Monday Bulletin: Convention 2019

Vote for the party that values public sector workers

Nan McFadgen, CUPE Nova Scotia President

“When there’s an election coming, for example, the federal election in the fall, you need to look at all three [four] parties and see which most aligns with your interests. And then when you find the party that most aligns with your interests as a public sector worker, vote for them, whoever they are.

Come out and vote. One of the reasons why we have a second mandate from Stephen McNeil and we now suffer through his four years of arrogance is because of the low voter turnout. So, look at their policies. Ask questions.”

Watch CUPE NS President Nan McFadgen deliver her annual president’s report to convention on our Facebook page at https://bit.ly/2YVE2Bh.

2nd Credentials Report 

9 – CUPE NS Executive Board members (voting delegates) *
2 – CUPE National officer
3 – CUPE National Executive Board members
4 – CUPE Staff
16 – CUPE staff representatives
6 – Guest
0 – Observers
3 – Exhibitors
218 – Delegates (voting delegates) *
14 – Alternate delegates

*For a total of 227 voting delegates

United front against violence in the workplace

Mark Hancock, CUPE National President

“We’re forming a united front across Canada to demand workplaces free from violence, fear, and harassment. From coast to coast to coast, we are equipping our members with the tools they need to make their jobs safer.

We’ll put the violence prevention tools that we have into the hands of members who need them most. We’ll empower our members by making sure that they know their rights! We’ll find the gaps in our laws and regulations and push our politicians to change the laws to make every workplace safer for everyone.”

Toast to public water

The members of CUPE 227 and CUPE 1431, municipal workers employed by Halifax Water

We’d like to propose a toast to the municipal water we are drinking here today, as well as to public water systems across Canada and around the world. Please raise your glass.

With this toast, we choose to drink public water over purchasing bottled water. We choose to drink from the tap because public water is clean, accessible and tastes great. We choose to drink from the tap because bottled water undermines public water systems.

We chose to drink from the tap because bottled water costs more, is much less regulated, and consumes more energy than tap water, thereby adding to global warming. Also, only 31% of the plastic bottles we use get recycled. This means that 69% of these either go into the landfill, or make their way into our oceans, where they have proven to be deadly to fish and sea birds who swallow them.

Both people in Canada and around the world do not have access to safe drinking water. In fact, in some countries the quest for water is a daily journey of many hours. Collectively, South African women and children walk a daily distance equivalent to 16 trips to the moon and back to collect water. Even here in Canada, sadly, many Indigenous communities do not have access to safe drinking water.

We therefore choose to drink from the tap, to demonstrate our commitment to public water as a human right. We raise our glasses to public water and to the back-to-the-tap movement. We urge all of you to make this toast, make the commitment to tap water, and banish bottled water from your life.

So, rethink how you drink. Let’s tap the tap and knock ’er back.


Young workers Taylor Linthorne, Neeraj Goli and Krysten Black from CUPE 2330.

CUPE Nova Scotia Awards

The CUPE NS annual banquet and awards night were held on Monday, May 27. During the event, two awards were presented to the following members.

Douglas MacDonald from Local 1782 received the CUPE NS Health and Safety Award.

Catherine Ann MacLean from Local 1485 received the CUPE NS Steward of the Year Award.

Highway Robbery

The government wants to hand over the ownership and operation of the new Pictou-Antigonish stretch of Hwy. 104 to a private for-profit corporation. We are paying 67% more for 38 km of private highway than it would cost to build it publicly!

Join us for town hall discussions June 4 and 5. More info at safehighwaysNS.ca.

#MMIWG

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