Search

ActiveFilters

Fighting for sustainable workplaces

I have been watching recent organizing drives at corporate giants like Starbucks, Amazon, and Indigo with interest. It is inspiring that this charge has been led in large part by young people standing up and fighting for their rights.

Governments need to get off the bench in the fight against inflation

Too many working families in Canada are struggling with their grocery bills and housing costs. As the number of people living paycheque to paycheque climbs, more and more Canadians are wondering when the gouge is going to stop. People are rightly wondering why, after two and a half years of a pandemic, it feels like our governments are leaving us out to dry during an inflation crisis unlike anything we have seen in decades.

Four pre-school aged children laughing with a woman in glasses

Sector profile: Child care

CUPE represents early childhood educators, assistants, cooks, and cleaners in the sector in both stand-alone and multi-sector locals. The bargaining units tend to be small and the wages low. The employers can be not-for-profit volunteer-run boards, municipalities, school boards or for-profit.

New report outlines roadmap to quality, affordable child care for all

A new publication released this week by the Child Care Resource and Research Unit, and partially funded by CUPE National, provides governments with the dos and don’ts when building a universal child care program. The researchers drew on previous studies both within Canada and internationally and concluded that the best way for Canada to build an affordable, accessible, inclusive, flexible, equitable, and quality early learning and child care system was to do so through public ownership, public management, and public funds.

CUPE releases position paper supporting play-based learning taught by early childhood educators

On November 29, CUPE submitted a position paper, Early Childhood Education and Nova Scotia’s Pre-primary Program, to the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. The union is offering recommendations to the provincial government for the implementation of a truly universal program, so that it is successful for all children, families, and educators.

Profiting from children: a child care social impact bond in Chicago

Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) are a new form of social program privatization that are being promoted in many areas of Canada. This case study explores some of the drawbacks of SIBs, using the example of Chicago Child-Parent Centres, the largest municipal SIB worldwide.

Committee members

National Political Action Committee

The National Political Action Committee works to build CUPE’s political action capacity in every region, providing advice on effective lobbying and mobilization on federal, provincial and municipal political issues. They encourage members and staff to join and be active in the NDP and in friendly coalitions. Integrating political action into all aspects of union work is a major goal for this committee.

Child care committee members

National Child Care Working Group

The National Child Care Working Group provides advice on how CUPE can advocate for universal, affordable, not-for-profit, regulated, high quality, unionized child care; organize more child care workers; negotiate on behalf of child care workers and better represent them on a day to day basis. This includes building our capacity to take action and to integrate the work with other sectors in CUPE.

children welcome

Children Welcome: A guide to quality on-site child care at CUPE events

Bargaining Equality: Child care

CUPE has long been a leader in the fight for a national child care program. In spite of promises by many governments, Canada still does not have a national strategy. About 70 per cent of women with young children work outside the home. For many of these families, the lack of affordable, quality child care is a major source of stress that makes balancing work and family responsibilities difficult and sometimes impossible. Bargaining child care benefits working mothers, children, entire families, our union and our workplaces. It allows working mothers the freedom to contribute to the workforce, society, and the ability to provide for themselves and their families. Bargaining child care makes good sense. Make it a part of your local’s bargaining agenda.