Politics matters. That’s the message CUPE Saskatchewan President Judy Henley brought to the 2023 convention floor in Regina this week.

“Some may say our union shouldn’t be getting involved in politics,” said Henley. “But when governments are bringing in policies that stop our members from putting food on the table – politics matters.”

“The public services that CUPE members deliver to continue to face underfunding and underinvestment despite the province being flush with cash and resource revenues,” said Henley, noting the Sask Party government is actively pushing privatization of health care, and diverting direly needed resources and staff away from the public system.

She also pointed out that the Sask Party government is still using a faulty funding formula for municipalities that doesn’t account for inflation or the economic impacts of the pandemic, and that the Sask Party is also withholding its share of funding from the child care federal-provincial child care framework.

Henley reminded members that it’s never too early to start planning for and helping win the next election, citing provincial byelections and municipal elections on the horizon as opportunities for CUPE members to get politically involved.

But ultimately, Henley says it will take a complete change in government to put Saskatchewan back on track. “We need a different government, and we need to work together to bring that change.”

/nm cope342