As 2024 draws to a close and we prepare to welcome the festive season, we extend our heartfelt gratitude and best wishes to all CUPE Ontario members.
Thanks to your unwavering solidarity, commitment and resilience, we have navigated the challenges of the past year and celebrated many triumphs together. We are building unstoppable momentum and it will carry us forward to strengthen the labour movement’s fighting force, for the benefit of workers in communities across the province.
Throughout 2024, there wasn’t a rally, demonstration, campaign, counter-protest, march, memorial, or picket line anywhere in the province that wasn’t sustained or supported by CUPE members. The community and solidarity, and CUPE Ontario members’ contribution to both, have been inspiring. We don’t retreat when things are tough; we re-commit, we persevere, and we work together. We support each other in good times and hard times, and this spirit of unity is what makes our union strong and resilient.
The uniqueness of our union lies in the fact that, when CUPE members win, our communities win, and Ontario does too.
We can look back on the past year and recall with great pride the progress we’ve made. We’ve learned the lessons from the recent past – from the pandemic, from the victories of the school board workers, from the fights against racism and discrimination – and applied them to our bargaining, our anti-racism work, our campaigns, our advocacy for peace, and to all the other areas of concern and importance to you, our members.
Thanks to your dedication and support, our union continues to make significant gains to wages and settlements. Today’s workers and future generations of CUPE members will benefit from our activism and determination, and from our refusal to settle for anything less than our collective worth.
In the year ahead, we will maintain our momentum at the bargaining table, while we continue to take on the fight against privatization, wherever it rears its head. As public sector workers, we are committed to the defence of public services in communities across the province. We’ll also continue to strengthen our base in many ways, including by welcoming another group in training with the Women in Leadership Development program (WILD), which is an integral part of CUPE Ontario’s Anti-Racism Organizational Action Plan.
There are also very strong signs that 2025 will bring an early provincial election,and we know what that means. We must demonstrate the strength of our union, work together toward a common goal, and usher in a new government that will be favourable to workers. A provincial election is our chance to “fire Ford” and put an end to the corruption, deceit and disrespect that the Ford Conservatives have shown Ontarians for the past six years. With your commitment and participation, we know we can make that happen.
As we enter this holiday season, we hope you will take time to rest, recharge and spend restorative time with loved ones. And while we celebrate, we will remember all our CUPE Ontario comrades who work over the holidays to keep our communities going. Our gratitude and recognition goes out to workers in hospitals and long-term care homes; to those working in residential homes and outreach programs; to workers who keep municipal services operating; to university workers who extend the hand of friendship to students who find themselves far from home over the holidays; and to all the many other CUPE members whose work sustains us over the holidays.
On behalf of CUPE Ontario, we extend to you and your families our best wishes for a safe, healthy and happy holiday season, and for a wonderful 2025.
Fred Hahn, President Yolanda McClean, Secretary-Treasurer
