As part of our union’s commitment to learn from the experiences and celebrate the successes of Black, Indigenous and racialized CUPE members, CUPE is profiling members of the National Racial Justice Committee and National Indigenous Council. This month, meet National Racial Justice Committee member Valerie Joseph.
Valerie Joseph is a seasoned activist who isn’t afraid to have difficult conversations and speak hard truths, because she knows that’s what it takes to build a strong, anti-racist union.
“Whatever I take on I have a passion for and I will see it through despite pushback,” she says. “That’s going to happen. As a Black woman, I’m used to that.”
Valerie has been a City of Toronto caseworker for Ontario Works since 1991. She usually supports community members who apply for social assistance but is booked off as a full-time CUPE 79 representative on the city’s joint job evaluation committee.
Valerie’s involvement in our union stretches decades, from local to national. She’s in her second term on the National Racial Justice Committee and is a co-chair. Valerie has been a steward and has served on her local’s executive board, human rights and status of women committees.
She’s the Equity Vice-President of the CUPE Toronto District Council and has been a member of CUPE’s national and Ontario women’s committees, as well as chair of the CUPE Ontario Racial Justice Committee, and the representative for Black and racialized workers on the CUPE Ontario Executive Board. As CUPE Ontario Racial Justice Committee chair, she was also a member of the Human Rights and Anti-Racism Organizational Action Plan committees.
In late 2024, Valerie was elected to the CUPE Ontario Women’s committee. She’s looking forward to rejoining the committee and continuing the work to end gender-based violence, as well as to ensure Indigenous, Black and racialized women truly feel included in their union.
Before becoming a caseworker, Valerie worked as a counsellor in a shelter for women who are survivors of intimate partner violence. She points to a rise in intimate partner violence, saying “It’s an epidemic. It needs to be recognized as that in this day and age.”
Valerie still devotes her time and energy to this struggle by educating her local and friends about this epidemic, and the resources available to support women and assure their safety. She organized a presentation from the Assaulted Women’s Helpline about intimate partner/domestic violence for her local’s women’s committee and has also volunteered with the helpline, which is a 24-hour crisis line.
She says “we need to recognize how different forms of oppression like gender discrimination and racism overlap and are intersectional.”
Tackling the root of racism
Valerie is passionate about a campaign CUPE Ontario’s Racial Justice Committee started while she was chair. The campaign helps members understand and resist white supremacy. “It’s work that urgently needs to continue and spread”, she says. In late 2024, the committee held a webinar to discuss how white supremacy impacts mental health.
“White supremacy is the root of racism and other forms of discrimination, and that’s real.”
Valerie says it’s vital to acknowledge how white supremacy shapes our society - and is present in our union’s structures. She sees that acknowledgement as the necessary first step in building an anti-racist union.
“This is disturbing, but it’s reality. White supremacy exists in CUPE. Racism exists in CUPE.”
Some members have expressed their discomfort with the term white supremacy. Valerie says confronting this reality is the only way to end systemic exclusion and underrepresentation of Indigenous, Black and racialized members at all levels of our union.
“I’m not uncomfortable addressing white supremacy and racism, and I want to upset the apple cart because that’s when real change is going to happen,” she says.
The police murder of George Floyd in 2020, and a spike in racism during the COVID-19 pandemic, opened many people’s eyes to the deep injustices Indigenous, Black and racialized people face. Organizations made statements and adopted new policies. But Valerie is worried that solidarity is dwindling and true progress is threatened.
She says she’s looking for action and accountability from CUPE’s Anti-Racism Strategy.
“I think it looks good on paper. It’s the real actions that I look at. We can all have ideas, but ideas without action, they’re just ideas. They just sit there,” she says.
“If there’s no real action to show your members that you’re serious, then nobody’s going to take you seriously.”
Education is key
Valerie trained as a member facilitator during the pandemic. She sees education as key to the path forward, quoting Black poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou: “When you learn, teach.”
Sharing knowledge and challenging biases helps break down barriers for Indigenous, Black and racialized members. It can also build solidarity in other ways, by busting myths about unions.
“We expect the members to understand what we understand. If we weren’t that involved, we probably wouldn’t know either.” One example is bargaining, where she’s encountered members who don’t understand the process and have bought into stereotypes about ‘greedy unions.’
“If we want members to be engaged, then we need to do the work.”
Her commitment to education carries over into her community involvement with the North York chapter of the Congress of Black Women. Valerie was the education chair for several years, helping provide scholarships to Black women students in North York pursuing post-secondary studies.
If you’re concerned, get involved
In the early 1990s, Valerie wasn’t active in her local. The stewards in her busy downtown office kept changing, and some people were badmouthing the union. She didn’t know about monthly meetings of a social services division committee until a steward invited her to attend and to consider becoming a steward herself.
After attending a few meetings, she agreed to put her name forward as a steward, encouraged by then unit officer Lily Chang. She got the position and was welcomed into the role in her workplace by everyone – even the manager at the time. She remembers him saying “’You’re fair, and you know what you’re talking about.’ And I said ‘OK, thank you!’ And I’ve never looked back.”
Her advice to Indigenous, Black or racialized CUPE members who want to get involved is to start in their local. Attending local meetings, joining a committee and becoming a steward are three ways to get started.
She says members should apply for provincial and national opportunities like committees. They should also look for training opportunities like CUPE Ontario’s Women in Leadership Development program for Indigenous, Black and racialized women. WILD has just launched its second cohort after what she describes as “the amazing success” of the first one.
“Get involved. It’s your union. The union doesn’t belong to the executive.” She redirects people who talk about ‘the union.’
“I say ‘OK, well, you know, that’s you, right?’ The union isn’t a separate entity over here, and you’re over there. It’s us. So, it’s your union. If you’re concerned, get involved.”
Learn more about CUPE’s Anti-Racism Strategy including Goal 4, which focuses on highlighting the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous and racialized members and celebrating their successes, at cupe.ca/cupes-anti-racism-strategy. And check out these tips for putting the strategy into action in your local.