Lachlan Sheldrick, CUPE 3912 VP, NSCAD
I attended the CUPE NS convention as a delegate to participate and support the local’s objectives of increasing our presence and visibility at convention and mobilizing and organizing support for the sector. In these objectives I felt that we succeeded; multiple 3912 members were elected to committee positions, and I along with my fellow delegates spoke in support of motions that deliver resources to supporting the higher education sector. I also spoke in solidarity and support for motions allocating resources to fight cuts in education more broadly.
I also spoke to a number of CUPE members from a range of sectors – from education to healthcare to public works – about the shared struggles and challenges facing public sector workers in Nova Scotia today. Through these conversations I will admit I was not surprised to hear about the particular challenges faced in other sectors, but I was happy to be able to share the post-secondary landscape with those where were unaware of the challenges we face. From these conversations I feel I was able to spread awareness of the work CUPE 3912 is doing and the urgency of the situation in the post-secondary sector while building solidarity with our comrades in public education and others.
As the VP for NSCAD, I also attended this convention to advocate for the importance of arts in our society and the need for arts education in the modern landscape. I am happy to report that across all sectors, in every conversation I had, I heard unanimous support for the arts. I was able to share and spread recognition of the ways in which arts and arts education benefits society, and the necessity of arts to a healthy society.
Overall, I feel that this convention was a worthwhile and successful venture, and provided me with not only the opportunity to see the workings of our union’s democracy at work, but afforded me the chance to built connections and solidarity across sectors, and spread awareness and recognition of post-secondary’s struggles broadly as well as the struggle for fair working conditions and proper support for the arts at NSCAD specifically.