May is Asian Heritage Month, dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the diversity of our communities and within our union of our sisters, brothers, and friends whose origins are connected to the many vibrant cultures of East Asia, Southern Asia, Central Asia, Western and Southeast Asia. It is also a time to recommit as fellow union members to the important role of speaking up against racism in our workplaces, online, and in our home communities.
Infection rate amongst youth a cause for concern
Rob Westfield, Chair, CUPE SK Education Workers’ Steering Committee
As an education support worker, and chair of CUPE Saskatchewan’s Education Workers’ Steering Committee, I am deeply concerned about the number of children in Saskatchewan that have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks.
We all know that COVID-19 has turned the lives of our children upside down. We have told our kids they cannot hug their grandparents or play with their friends. Schools have shut down and re-opened, and children have had to adapt to online learning, physical distancing and other safety protocols.
CUPE Saskatchewan to Education Minister: Ignoring the role of childcare workers and their safety concerns by denying vaccine priority inexcusable
Judy Henley, President, CUPE Saskatchewan
Responding to the education minister’s recent comments, CUPE Saskatchewan President Judy Henley makes the following statement:
“Working in close contact and a critical service since the beginning of the pandemic by supporting families and our front-line responders and essential workers, it is inexcusable for the government to continue denying childcare and early learning workers priority for COVID-19 vaccination.
CUPE, as the union representing many childcare workers across the province, has made repeated calls along with Opposition NDP and others urging the government to fast track all workers on the frontlines of the pandemic left out of the previous vaccine priority eligibility by the government. These calls deserve a better answer than the one given by the education minister.
International Workers’ Day 2021: Demanding more support for our front-line heroes and a just recovery
On May Day 2021, CUPE Saskatchewan stands in solidarity with workers and their unions around the world in the demand to turn appreciation for our front-line heroes and all the workers who build the real economy into greater action. The fight against the coronavirus demands that employers and governments take care of the workers who are taking care of all of us and our communities. A recovery from the pandemic must not go back to the way things were, but the structural change long overdue for greater economic, social, and climate justice.
One year into the public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of strong public services and the workers who provide them. While workers have stepped up to deliver the services on which we rely, employers and governments have been slow to act on providing the safety protections and support workers deserve. Too many workers are getting ill at work and losing their lives because of their jobs, as faster-spreading variants pose new danger. Too many workers are still without access to paid sick days. Too many workers are still without a living wage and retirement security. The pandemic has exposed long-standing inequalities that must now be redressed. It has also exposed the failure of handing over public services such as long-term care to privatization and for-profit companies, which we must now demand be fixed by making long-term care part of our public universal health care system.
Day of Mourning 2021: Recognizing the human cost of COVID-19, need for more action to keep workers safe
On the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job, CUPE Saskatchewan joins Canada’s unions in recognizing the devastating human cost of COVID-19. For over a year, the public health crisis of the pandemic has highlighted how important the fight for workplace safety remains.
Across Canada, we have now witnessed over a million cases and more than 23,000 deaths. In Saskatchewan, over 470 deaths have been recorded. These numbers include workers who have contracted COVID-19 because of their jobs and became ill or died as a result. Since the beginning of 2020, 14 CUPE members have died as a result of their work across the country delivering public services. Ten of these deaths were due to COVID-19. Last year, a total of 34 workers across Saskatchewan died as a result of a workplace injury or a disease they contracted while at work.
No worker should be injured, made sick, or lose their life because of their job. Throughout the pandemic, CUPE Saskatchewan has joined with fellow unions across the country demanding more protections to keep workers safe, access to personal protective equipment, vaccination priority for all front-line workers, rapid testing in our schools, and adequate paid sick days for all workers. Conditions on the frontlines of the pandemic are also affecting the mental health of workers, and resources for members and Local Unions are available to assist. As the pandemic moves into its second year, we will continue the fight to keep members safe – and to hold employers and governments accountable for workers’ rights to health and safety on the job.
CUPE mourns the death of Local 5512 member
CUPE Local 5512, CUPE Saskatchewan and the Education Workers’ Steering Committee are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of a CUPE educational assistant who worked at King George School in Moose Jaw.
Our thoughts are with her family, friends and co-workers during this difficult time.
Notice of Appointment Opportunity: Task Force on Member Engagement – Apply by May 10, 2021
The Saskatchewan Division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE Saskatchewan) is currently accepting applications from members of affiliated Local Unions to serve on the Task Force for Member Engagement.
Applications for consideration of appointment must be received by no later than Monday, May 10, 2021.
CUPE members in good standing of affiliated Local Unions are eligible to apply.
Earth Day 2021: Recognizing the Climate Emergency and action needed to restore our earth
April 22 is Earth Day – a day to recognize the climate change emergency and the action needed to restore our earth. With the world continuing to head for a catastrophic temperature rise and human caused destruction threatening the earth’s ecosystems needed to sustain life, Earth Day 2021 is an important time to renew our resolve to demand more urgent environmental action from governments, employers and within our communities in the transition to a zero-carbon economy. Action on the environment to build a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will safeguard our health in the future and that of our only planet.
2021 will launch the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, set to officially commence during World Environment Day on June 5, which aims to halt the already significant degradation of ecosystems and achieve global goals of restoration on every continent and in every ocean. The decade coincides with the deadline for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and timeline identified by scientists as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change.
Team Unite endorsed by CUPE Saskatchewan ahead of elections at 2021 CLC Convention
At its meeting on April 16, the Executive Board of CUPE Saskatchewan passed a motion to endorse the candidates of Team Unite in the upcoming elections at the 2021 CLC Convention being held virtually on June 16 through to June 18, 2021.
“With Team Unite, we can reset the Canadian Labour Congress with renewed leadership to build a stronger labour movement,” said Judy Henley, President of CUPE Saskatchewan. “I encourage all CUPE locals in Saskatchewan to support this outstanding team of progressive women to unite the labour movement by sending delegates to the upcoming virtual CLC Convention in June.”
Team Unite includes the following candidates:
• Bea Bruske for CLC President;
• Lily Chang for CLC Secretary-Treasurer; and
• Siobhan Vipond for CLC Executive Vice-President.
CUPE locals are encouraged to register delegates for the virtual CLC convention and to support the election of Team Unite and important constitutional amendments put forward by CUPE.
All essential workers should be fast tracked and have access to the COVID-19 vaccine
CUPE Saskatchewan is renewing its calls for immediate access to the COVID-19 vaccine for essential workers, especially those in our education sector, service industry, and people working within vulnerable communities.
“The latest eligibility expansion finally includes many health care workers, but education workers, childcare workers, and many service industry positions are still left waiting,” said Judy Henley, president of CUPE Saskatchewan. “Delayed access to vaccination is risking the lives of essential workers and contributing to the further spread of COVID-19.”
Other jurisdictions, like British Columbia, included education and childcare workers in early phases of the vaccine rollout because of recorded outbreaks and the vital role they play in the workforce.