CLOSING REMARKS
Resolution 269 covering resolution 270 submitted by CUPE Ontario and Local 1281, Ontario:
CHAIRPERSON PAUL MOIST: Thank you to all delegates. You have done an incredible amount of work this week. You have recognized workers that put their lives on the line in recognizing Canjet flight attendants in one of the most moving moments in the history of our union in convention. Your support for the striking groups and for the Montreal Blue Collars was incredible.
CUPE NATIONAL WILL: 1.
Coordinate and work with provincial, service divisions and regional offices of the National Union t o provide full coordination and access to lists and contract information of local union executives; and
2.
Sign privacy agreements with provincial and service divisions to enable the flow of information regarding up-to-date lists and contract information of local union executives to occur and still uphold privacy legislation.
Yesterday, we dealt with an incredibly difficult moment and you rose to the challenge. A retired member from Local 2936 e-mailed me last night and wrote: “Brother Moist, I want to thank you for honouring our friend and sister Kathy Patton. She represented the best of CUPE: the passion, the clarity of thought, the willingness to pursue ideals. She also loved a good time, a good laugh and good friends. She was passionate about her family and her grandchildren. By honouring her as you did today, you have honoured us all as a union that looks after its own.”
BECAUSE: • Access to members is crucial for building support, conducting education and mobilizing a political fight back in our communities and in pursuing campaign affiliations and involvement; and • In organizing and engaging our membership is a crucial element of building a strong union on every level: local, provincial and national; and • Members change addresses and the list of members is ever evolving and the challenge to maintain up-to-date contact lists is a large task that can be assisted by the National Union and national staff representatives.
What this retired brother is saying is that, with all our debates, with all the emotion at the microphones, when something hits our union that is difficult and hits one of our family, we come together. And if there is a message that I could leave with you as you travel home, beyond urging that you travel safely, it is to say to you that there is a spirit, a comradery and a solidarity within our union that, when it comes together, when it reaches heights, makes us an unstoppable force for good in our workplaces and in our country.
The committee’s recommendation is one concurrence as amended, and I so move.
It has been an incredible privilege to chair this convention. Delegates stopped me last night and said: “Thank you, you are very respectful in the convention”, and I said, “Well, that should not be a surprise. We are in a convention, we are in a union because we respect each other and because we respect work. Showing you respect is what you deserve as workers. That is what we fight for in the workplace. Guess what happened? You were patient, you listened and you kept quorum. The level of debate was very high and we adopted a progressive agenda. We are an organizing union, a political union, a striking union at times, a fighting union and a good union.”
(M/S M.-C. Poole-Cotnam, L. MacKay – Carried) Resolution 185 submitted by CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador and the Okanagan Mainline District Council, British Columbia: CUPE NATIONAL WILL: Provide access to training for local union executive members on the importance of properly functioning local health and safety committees. BECAUSE:
On behalf of all the members who are not here today and who are working all across Canada, I say thank you to you delegates. You made this one of the biggest and best CUPE conventions ever, and I wish you Godspeed safe travel home.
• Occupational health and safety has to be a priority for all levels of CUPE; and • Daily hazards in the workplace are overlooked; and • Many local union health and safety committees are not functioning; and • Some committees are pro-employer and do not give support to committee members carrying out their health and safety duties.
Keep the fight up every day in our workplaces. We can change the world. We can be political. We can win strikes. We can beat privatization. We can build a bigger and better union and we can change the world! Safe journey and keep up the fight.
The committee’s recommendation is one of concurrence, and I so move.
“Solidarity Forever”
(M/S M. Reed, G. Lepine – Carried)
The convention was officially adjourned at 12:05 p.m.
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