Like millions of people across the country, CUPE Saskatchewan and the CUPE Saskatchewan Indigenous Council were saddened and heartbroken to learn of the news that 215 graves were discovered upon the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, located in the traditional territory of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc. These were the graves of children from the school whose deaths were not reported, nor were their families notified.
Library technicians who work for the Saskatoon Public School Division are having their hours cut to deal with a projected budget shortfall of $8 million. CUPE Local 8443, the union representing these workers, are speaking out about the impacts these cuts will have on students.
“Library technicians are an integral part of the library experience for all students. We are the face of the library, working daily to keep it accessible and ready for students and staff,” said Dene Nicholson, president of CUPE 8443 and a library technician. “Library technicians add and process new books, circulate and file existing books, and help find the perfect book for each student.”
Staff were given notice that their hours for the 2021-22 school year would be reduced by a total of 4.7 full-time equivalent positions. This reduction will impact dozens of staff in elementary schools across the division. Continue reading
In May, National Public Works Week is dedicated to highlighting the importance of public infrastructure and the municipal workers who build, maintain, and operate this infrastructure which form the foundation of the public services that sustain our communities and enhance our quality of life.
Each and every day throughout the challenges of the pandemic, municipal workers have been on the frontline building and maintaining critical infrastructure and delivering the public services that keep our communities going.
As CUPE members, we are proud of the work we do to help make each of our municipalities a great place to live.
The CUPE Saskatchewan Education Workers’ Steering Committee (EWSC) has launched a new campaign to highlight education support workers and to renew the call for adequate funding for K-12 education.
“This year has been incredibly challenging for all of us in the education sector,” said Rob Westfield, an education support worker and chair of the EWSC. “COVID-19 has turned the lives of our children upside down. Education support workers have repeatedly put their health on the line to give our children the quality education they deserve.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has driven home the importance of well-funded public education.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.