A message from James Clancy to NUPGE members

'2010 has been an important year for NUPGE and its Components. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together. But the struggle continues. The labour movement will face many challenges in 2011.'

Ottawa (22 Dec. 2010) - Wow. What an amazing year it has been. Thanks for all your work.

In 2010, NUPGE and its Components – along with thousands of activists across the country – did the important organizing work in our communities to prove there is a progressive, compassionate and responsible alternative to the reckless agenda being promoted by Stephen Harper’s government and many provincial governments.

The year started with Harper's cynical and autocratic decision to shut down Parliament. He thought nobody would care and that he’d get away with it. Boy was he wrong. We joined thousands of Canadians at rallies across the country to show we care about our democracy and will fight for it.

Throughout the year, we continued our work on public policy issues that are important to families and communities. We fought to protect and expand the public health care system because health care is a right not a privilege. We fought to make post-secondary education more affordable because nobody should be denied an opportunity to reach their full potential. We fought for more resources for community-based social services because vulnerable families need and deserve support. We fought for better mental health services because there truly is no health without mental health. We fought for an expansion of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) because everyone should be able to retire with security and dignity. We fought for progressive labour laws because labour rights are human rights and more workers need and want a fair chance to form a union at their workplace.

In June, delegates from across Canada gathered in Vancouver for NUPGE’s Convention. It was an important opportunity to take stock of our activities and achievements since the last Convention and develop an action plan for the years ahead. For three days, delegates engaged in a good discussion about the biggest issues facing Canada’s future. It was great to see everyone so fired up at the end of Convention – it was a small glimpse of what our political discourse and country can achieve.

We kept things moving through the fall, when we launched our largest campaign ever called All Together Now! In October we trained 100 Champions 4 Change to deliver a presentation about the value of public services and the need for tax fairness. The Champions have been spreading the word member to member, work site to work site, local to local, convention to convention, and community to community. The campaign has built some good momentum and accomplished a lot in a short period of time. We’re looking forward to continuing the work on the campaign in 2011 and fighting for the change we know is possible.

Unfortunately, all this important work was clouded by the cruel and needless economic crisis that started in 2008 and continued through 2010. In terms of collective bargaining we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But NUPGE and its Components are among the smartest and toughest unions in the country when it comes to contract negotiations. At the same time we were fighting employers at the bargaining table, we were also fighting governments to ensure they brought in budget measures that would create jobs, support vulnerable families and protect public services. It took a lot of work but they eventually listened and brought in stimulus measures which prevented a more catastrophic crisis.

I’m proud that NUPGE and its Components took on these difficult fights. But the job isn't finished yet. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians who are out of work are quickly running out of unemployment insurance benefits. Many workers are in precarious situations and are now looking to trade unions to help them out. Governments across the country are talking about years of belt-tightening and cuts to important public services. Working Canadians are worried their pension income will be so low they won't ever find it possible to retire. These are fights we’ll continue to take on in 2011.

We also need to convince governments they have to make fundamental changes if we’re going to build an equitable and sustainable economy. In 2011, we’ll be emphasizing that the biggest priority must be to address the large and growing income gap between the richest and poorest families in Canada. Inequality goes against notions of fairness and solidarity and it threatens economic and social stability. It’s an issue we’re going to fight for with passion and conviction until our governments do something about it.

All that is to say, 2010 has been an important year for NUPGE and its Components. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together. But the struggle continues. The labour movement will face many more challenges in 2011. We need to continue our work on the issues that are priorities for working families. And it’s critically important that the labour movement focus on reaching out to workers who are not currently in a union.

Thank you for all you did in the last year to build momentum towards change, and all you will do in 2011 to keep up the fight. On behalf of the entire NUPGE National Executive Board, I wish you and your family the very best of the holiday season.





 

James Clancy
National President

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE