National Aboriginal Day – June 21st

June 21st is National Aboriginal Day, a day to recognize the contribution, culture and struggles of our Aboriginal peoples. It was first enacted in 1996.

Just last year, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada reported details of the disturbing history of residential schools. For decades, up until the 1980s, Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their homes and sent away to boarding schools where physical and sexual abuse were common. Children were denied their language, culture and family.

The death rate of residential school students was often double, triple, or even quadruple the death rate among children in the population at large. Parents were often not told details of their child’s death, or even where their children were buried.

It is, without question, one of the most shameful government policies in Canadian history, and one with repercussions on the lives of our Aboriginal peoples for generations to come.  Unemployment, alcoholism, substance abuse, depression and suicide rates among Aboriginal communities are far higher than the Canadian population at large. The roots of many of these tragedies can be traced to residential schools and the impact of our treatment of Aboriginal people.

It will take far more than one day a year to reverse three centuries of damaging mistreatment.

The challenges our Aboriginal brothers and sisters face are complex, deep seated, and difficult to solve.

CUPE Alberta is committed to playing the long game. We will continue to stand in solidarity, to listen and act, and to work in partnership with First Nations to address these issues in a meaningful way.

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Mental health awareness day


January 25, 2017
Local 2157 President Lise Comeau and
Vice President Karli Matthews sit to talk at
Keyano College for mental health awareness day.

Dear Local Executive and CUPE Members,

 Re: Relief FUND for CUPE Alberta members  

In light of the devastation caused by wild fires in the Fort McMurray area, CUPE Alberta is creating a Relief Fund to assist CUPE members in Alberta who are affected by this 2016 fire.

All monies collected will go directly to CUPE members, the funds will be split amongst CUPE Alberta members who have lost their homes or who will have to be relocated for an extended period of time.

We are asking locals to donate to the Relief Fund to assist our members in rebuilding their lives and homes, and restore hope for the future.

We are hoping to have all donations into the CUPE Alberta Office asap.   This will enable us to distribute the funds to the affected CUPE members.

Please forward your donation to:

CUPE Alberta Treasurer
ATTN: Relief Fund – Fire
300 – 10235 124 Street
Edmonton AB T5N 1P9

In solidarity,
Marle's signature
Marle Roberts
President, CUPE Alberta

 

April 28 – Day of Mourning

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Every day, workers around the world are injured and killed while trying to earn a living. In Alberta, workplace deaths number in the hundreds per year.

On April 28th we pause to remember those injured and killed while working, and re-commit to improving conditions so further deaths will not occur.

The last year has sadly seen its share of workplace deaths and injuries. However, there is some good news. Alberta has joined other provinces in Canada in protecting agricultural workers under labour and health and safety laws. In the first three months of 2016, WCB Alberta has approved 159 applications for compensation from farmworkers – applications that would have been denied last year.

There is still much more to be done. Workplace deaths are preventable. Please keep working to make our jobs safer.

Click here to find out about April 28 events in your area.

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Make a pledge for parity!

InternationalWomensDay-portraitMarch 8th is International Women’s Day. A day to reflect on our success in building equality for women, and a day to take stock on what issues are next to tackle.

We’ve won some important symbolic victories in the last year – we elected more women to Parliament, and more women to Alberta’s Legislature than ever before.  Canada is proceeding with a much needed inquiry into the thousands of missing and murdered aboriginal women.

But there is still much progress to be made.

IWD was originally called “International Working Women’s Day” when it first happened in 1909, as it was called to remember a strike by members of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union.  In that spirit, I want to look at the issues facing working women today.

Canada is still without a national child care plan, something that would make it easier for women to pursue a career and motherhood should they choose to. Child care lifts families out of poverty, as it allows mothers (and all parents) more options to support their families. According to the Globe and Mail, women in Canada make, on average, $8,000 less than men doing an equivalent job.

You can take a small action today – click here to ‘Make a Pledge for Parity’ and be sure to follow-up that pledge with action.

December 6 – National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

On December 6, 1989 at École Polytechnique (a post secondary school in Montreal) a shooter went on a rampage.  After separating women from men, the shooter killed fourteen women and injured ten others.

Since then, December 6th has been named “White Ribbon Day” as a day to remember those women, and all others who experience violence.

white ribbonWhile massacres like the one in 1989 are thankfully rare, the statistics around Canadian violence against women are shocking:

  • Half of all women in Canada have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence after the age of 16.
  • On average, every six days a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner.
  • On any given day in Canada, more than 3,300 women (along with their 3,000 children) are forced to sleep in an emergency shelter to escape domestic violence. Every night, about 200 women are turned away because the shelters are full.
  • Each year, over 40,000 arrests result from domestic violence—that’s about 12% of all violent crime in Canada. Since only 22% of all incidents are reported to the police, the real number is much higher.

Learn more here.

December 6th event in Calgary

December 6th event in Edmonton

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CUPE hosts Bannock Lunch on Aboriginal Day

June 2015 Aboriginal Day

CUPE Alberta and the CUPE Aboriginal Council partnered with the Elizabeth Friday Society to provide a Bannock Luncheon at the Society on Friday. About 45 people attended, including Elder Elsie Paul, who said an opening prayer and greeted the group with a song.

The union worked in conjunction with Aboriginal Women’s Program Coordinator Rebecca Cardinal.  National Representative Audrey Barr and Gloria Lepine, Alternate Senator to the National Aboriginal Council, attended on behalf of CUPE.

Click here to see more photos.

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