Announcing our 51st Annual Convention!

CUPE NL invites all locals to join them at the Mount Peyton Conference Centre on May 5th-8th, 2025 for their 51st annual convention.

Registration will be held on Sunday, May 4th at 4:00 p.m. at the Mount Peyton. Locals are requested to make their own reservations, but a block of rooms, named “CUPE,” will be held for delegates at a rate of $139.00 plus taxes per night.

To send delegates, locals must have their per capita to CUPE National and CUPE NL up to and including April 2025.

For more information, please see the full Convention Call available for download here.

Black History Month: February 1 to 28, 2025

Black History should be recognized 365 days a year and not limited to a single month.

Black History acknowledgement is also a time for all people in Canada to reflect and educate ourselves on the history of Black enslavement and the ongoing discrimination and criminalization of people of African descent, and to remember that anti-Black racism still exists.

Every year CUPE honours a Black ancestor, or someone who is making history today. This year we’re honouring Marjorie Villefranche, Executive Director of Maison d’Haïti in Montreal.

Marjorie has spent more than 40 years empowering immigrants to fully participate in their community. She has made her mark as a feminist, anti-racist activist fighting discrimination and all forms of exclusion.

Canadian society has seen progress over the decades, but people of African descent in Canada still experience differential treatment. Black, racialized and Indigenous community members are far more likely to be the hardest hit by the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic deprivation. This, combined with the ongoing crisis of over-policing, has shone a spotlight on how much remains to be done.

CUPE’s Anti-Racism Strategy identifies actions to challenge systemic racism in our workplaces, union and communities. It acknowledges that our union and locals must work towards meaningful change for Black, Indigenous and racialized members, including those with intersecting identities.

Our union is committed to fighting racism and hatred in all forms. We encourage members not to be neutral when witnessing racism in any form. Instead, commit to not looking the other way and stand up for what is right.

For resources that can help increase awareness, understand and create change, head to: cupe.ca/black-history-month

Education: Election Campaign Workshops for CUPE NL members

Attention CUPE members! As we prepare for our voices to be heard loud and clear in the upcoming provincial and federal elections, we encourage you to participate in the below election campaign workshops, starting next week!

  • Next Tuesday, February 4th from 10AM to 4PM in Stephenville
  • Next Thursday, February 6th from 10AM to 5PM in St. John’s
  • Saturday, February 8th from 8AM to 5PM in St. John’s (run by the CLC, register for this one here)
  • Monday, February 10th from 10AM to 5PM in Corner Brook

For further details and to express your interest please send an email to the CUPE Atlantic Political Action Coordinator at grao@cupe.ca. You will also need to contact your local executive to arrange book-off (release from work).

We hope to see you there! Watch out for future in-person and online election training opportunities.

Download a flyer with this information for circulation to your local here.

CLC: Workers Together Training & Canvass in St. John’s

We’re at a critical moment here in Canada. Soon, we will be casting our ballots in the upcoming federal election. 

The stakes couldn’t be higher. We need to elect candidates who’ll fight for working families – NOT Conservatives like Poilievre, who threaten workers’ pensions and public services that we all rely on – this will come down to how organized we are between now and election day. That’s why we’re kicking off a series of Day of Action Trainings to give workers like you the tools and skills necessary you need to get organized and make a real impact in your community.

The best canvasses are fun and full of energy, are well-organized and make good use of everyone’s time. They have a clearly understood purpose. Getting organized means learning to have tough conversations with our coworkers, loved ones and our neighbours. It means rallying as many votes as possible.

Join us in St. John’s, NL for this one-day training, a great introduction to organizing a canvass, discussing federal issues, working with volunteers, and we will end with a community canvass. Dress warm and wear comfortable walking shoes for the community canvass afterwards.

RSVP by clicking this link and registering today! Lunch will be provided to those in attendance.

WEBINAR: Why do the results of the next Provincial Election really matter for you and NL?

It’s likely that Premier Andrew Furey could call a provincial election very soon, giving us an important opportunity to protect public services and public service workers. We encourage all CUPE Newfoundland & Labrador members to join us for a webinar next Tuesday evening.

WHEN: January 28, 2025 at 7:00PM – 8:30PM
WHERE: Via Zoom at bit.ly/4joF8zq

A Political Education Event brought to you by CUPE Votes and CUPE Newfoundland & Labrador.

Apply for the Labour College of Canada (LCC)!

The Labour College of Canada (LCC) Certificate Program is now accepting applications for Cohort 15, to begin in June 2025. Application deadline is: March 9th, 2025.

The LCC Certificate Program is a university-level, labour studies and leadership program for labour leaders and active union members.

The new flexible program combines online and in-person learning over 14 months, to accommodate busy and changing schedules.

Participants come from a diversity of unions and regions in the country. Students learn together in large or small groups (or cohorts) throughout the program as they discuss, debate, and strategize on key issues facing workers inside and outside of unions.

The LCC Certificate Program:

  1. Builds leadership skills and provides leadership tools;
  2. Fosters empowerment, self-confidence, and new networks of labour leaders;
  3. Strengthens critical thinking skills;
  4. Examines working class struggles and human rights issues that affect all workers; and
  5. Creates change!

If you are interested in applying to the LCC Certificate Program, please speak with your union education representative (Michelle Cohen, mcohen@cupe.ca).

If this program sounds and feels like it’s right for you, please visit labourcollege.ca for additional details and complete the application form before March 9, 2025.

NDP Leader Jim Dinn to speak on behalf of long ignored service and support health care workers

New Democratic Party Leader Jim Dinn will present to the House of Assembly a petition signed by nearly 1,400 CUPE service and support workers employed by Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services that demanded the Furey government meet to discuss solutions for ongoing recruitment and retention issues.

MEETING DETAILS:

1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., Thursday, November 7, 2024

House of Assembly

100 Prince Philip Dr, St. John’s

Despite previous attempts to engage in an ongoing dialogue with the Furey government, including an earlier petition with over 1,400 signatures, when service and support health care workers met with the Minister of Health John Hogan, they were told their concerns were “bargaining issues.”

“It’s funny to me that, when the Furey government decided to give select classifications raises outside of bargaining last year, it wasn’t a ‘bargaining issue,’” said CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador President Sherry Hillier. “If the government is going to offer health care workers wage increases outside of bargaining, they need to treat all health care workers equally.”

Last summer, the Furey government offered a one-time wage increase to several health care classifications based on previous increases negotiated by the Registered Nurses Union (RNU) and Allied Health. These increases were added outside of normal bargaining in addition to what had been bargained by CUPE and NAPE earlier that year. Service and support health care workers were not invited to these discussions.

“We presented our first petition to every MHA in the province, including the Premier, and even met with the new Minister of Health,” said Rowena Bourgeois, an accounting clerk working at Bay St. George Long Term Care Centre, “and yet our concerns were dismissed. Why are the concerns of doctors and nurses a priority, but ours are merely a bargaining issue?”

“As an LPN, I spent years working alongside service and support staff and I’ve seen firsthand how vital they are to the effectiveness of our health care facilities,” said Hillier. “Without them, our hospitals, our health care systems, don’t work. End of story.”