Over the past decade, one thing has become abundantly clear to me: workers want a union that fights, grows, and wins. And across this country, they’re choosing CUPE.
When I was first elected national president in 2015, CUPE stood just over 630,000 members strong. Just recently, our union passed an extraordinary milestone: more than 800,000 members from coast to coast to coast.
That growth didn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of sustained organizing, deep member engagement, and a union that reflects the diversity, courage, and determination of working people in Canada.
In recent years, CUPE has worked tirelessly to organize tens of thousands of new workers – education workers in Alberta, health care workers in Ontario, flight attendants in the Yukon, firefighters in Quebec, and so many more – who had never before had the protection of a strong union. In every sector, we’ve shown that when workers are facing privatization and precarity, and where they are fighting for better pay and respect, CUPE is ready to stand with them and fight alongside them.
Growing our membership matters because it strengthens everything we do. It gives us more power at the bargaining table, giving us leverage to fight for better wages and working conditions, and to push back against austerity and contracting out. It also gives us the political strength to win real change – like anti-scab legislation, affordable child care, and new health care programs that benefit millions of people.
As we know, building our strength as a union doesn’t end when we leave the worksite. It extends into our communities and into our politics as well.
Right now, the federal NDP is finding itself in a moment of rebuilding and renewal after a difficult election. That renewal is essential, and CUPE has a responsibility to be part of it – not from the sidelines, but on the ground.
A strong labour movement needs a strong workers’ party. And a renewed NDP – focused squarely on affordability, public services, and workers’ rights – needs an engaged, growing labour movement behind it.
These two projects are inseparable. Every new worker we organize strengthens CUPE. Strengthening our locals and our national union strengthens our political voice too. And every step we take to renew the NDP as a party rooted in working-class struggles strengthens the future for all of us.
Building CUPE’s organizational power and renewing the NDP as a workers’ party go hand in hand. Together, they are how we turn solidarity into lasting change – for our members, our communities, and for the generations to come.
