Rine Vieth, CUPE 3912 SMU Member
I attended the CUPE/SCFP “Building Strong Locals”/Bâtir des sections locales fortes” in Montréal, QC that took place March 3 – 6. Joining union members across the country, this was an opportunity to network, share with each other, and also learn more from CUPE.
The most valuable part of this event was meeting people from unions across Canada. It was heartening—depressing, yes, but also heartening—to hear about labour struggles across the country. In particular, I noted a number of those in childcare who were fighting particularly hard for contracts. As it was a bilingual event, I was also able to connect with union leadership who worked in both official languages of Canada. Through the skills-building and breakout sessions, I met those representing childcare workers, bus drivers, flight staff, teachers, and more. One major highlight of this was talking with a table about making a plan for public communications during negotiations and a potential strike: the collaboration with people from different sectors meant that we created what turned out to be a really great plan in a very short breakout session.
While there, I learned about CUPE resources that were either new or still somewhat unfamiliar to me (though definitely not to everyone!). I was particularly excited to learn about:
- CUPE support during elections
- CUPE labour solidarity with temporary foreign workers (…which includes me!) CUPE workshops and training available to members and locals
- CUPE research on bargaining language around AI
There were things that I wish were done differently. For example, gendered assumptions by event facilitators were tricky to navigate (e.g. asking pronouns, and then defaulting to “sister” and “brother” based on how someone looked to the presenter/facilitator), and communication could’ve been clearer with online resources, as there seemed to be a lot of assumptions of familiarity with knowledge that sidelined new attendees. Both of these are easily-fixed, but important to keep in mind as we build a more inclusive union for all: it’s worth unsettling and unpacking our assumptions about gender, technical familiarity, and access needs! I also think that some of the role-playing was less effective than it might’ve been because of limited time, as well as because some of the subject matter was sensitive (like acting out responding someone saying something horribly racist). The shorter “think-pair-share” activities were much more effective, and also led to some really positive ways to build relationships with people we had just met at our table.
The biggest issue I encountered was that while I wish there had been more information about each session before, so we might be able to ‘apply’ for certain sessions with more information— but! CUPE/SCFP provides ongoing member education and support, so I think that workshops around public communication, navigating CUPE/SCFP, and building strong plans would be useful for CUPE 3912 members. Given recent developments in Nova Scotia politics around higher education, I think seeking out CUPE/SCFP training and support around electoral politics —something I had a number of really informative conversations with tabling CUPE/SCFP representatives about—would be really good.
I would encourage attendance at bigger conferences to newer union members, and would particularly (but not only!!) urge that those who have both French and English language skills attend, as it was really helpful to me to be able to chat with anyone. This conference also got me thinking about member education, and ways we can implement things like worksheets, smaller training sessions, and more amongst CUPE 3912 members.