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“I get inspired by the issues with our band that I bring to CUPE,” says National Indigenous Council co-chair Brandice Blanchard. Learn how Blanchard connects union and community in this profile, part of a series sharing the stories of members of the National Indigenous Council and National Racial Justice Committee.

Environmental racism is a form of systemic racism that leaves Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities far more exposed to environmental hazards than predominantly white communities. It includes industrial and environmental policies and practices that lead to environmentally hazardous sites being located close to Black, Indigenous and racialized communities.

In the late 1990s, huge water corporations were circling offshore, eager to profit from Canada’s public water and wastewater systems. But CUPE was on the lookout and ready to fight back. H2O: The Price of Privatization helped kick off the Water Watch campaign. Working in coalition with the Council of Canadians and environmental groups, CUPE members helped stop many high-profile attempts to privatize our water and wastewater. We fought and won on the ground, community by community.

CUPE is committed to ensuring locals have access to resources that support the union’s work on truth and reconciliation. One of the ways CUPE locals can support reconciliation is by bargaining language supporting Indigenous workers into collective agreements. Our new guide, Truth and reconciliation: CUPE taking action through collective bargaining, is for everyone who wants to put reconciliation into action at the bargaining table.

CUPE is committed to reconciliation and justice for Indigenous peoples. That is why we continue to call on all governments in Canada to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action. But we as a union also have our own responsibility to achieve reconciliation. To do that, we must continue to build a respectful relationship with Indigenous peoples inside our union, across the entire labour movement, in our workplaces and in our communities. This guide provides CUPE members with key resources to better acknowledge and include Indigenous members in our union, and to help locals take concrete action towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

The vast majority of Canadian water and wastewater services are publicly provided by municipal governments. Most cities and towns have been delivering safe drinking water and high-quality sanitation services for decades. Municipalities have developed unprecedented experience and expertise providing these services.

The National Indigenous Council promotes and defends the rights of all Indigenous workers in our union and in our communities. They provide advice and assist in the development of CUPE policies to combat racism and discrimination, to increase participation in the union, and to support employment equity.