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School teacher inspired to enter Why Unions Matter contest by the role unions played in the Japanese redress moment
Ottawa (17 June 2015) — As a high school teacher in rural Saskatchewan, Andre Boutin-Maloney knows first-hand that unions matter. For one thing, he belongs to the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation and enjoys all the benefits that entails.
But it wasn’t until he began doing research into the Japanese Canadian Redress Movement that Boutin-Maloney became inspired to enter NUPGE’s Why Unions Matter contest. His poem is the latest winner.
"Inspired by labour unions"
“I was simply inspired by how labour unions joined in the formation of The National Coalition for Japanese Canadian Redress and The Ad Hoc Committee for Japanese Canadians Redress,” says Boutin-Maloney. “I hope if nothing else, my poem serves as a reminder of the important work unions do every day.”
As Boutin-Maloney points out in his poem, all Canadians now enjoy the spoils of union victories:
"Eventually — we all win"
“More benefits unseen … / teachers bargain smaller classes / educations improves / nurses campaign / improved patient care / eventually — we all win.”
Congratulations to Boutin-Maloney. And to anybody else with an interesting or artistic way to describe Why Unions Matter, the contest is still on and we’re continuing to award $1,000 prizes to best entries each month.
Send them along to: whyunionsmatter@nupge.ca
More information:
Why Unions Matter past winners, rules & regulations
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 360,000 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