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TORONTOAs a proudly progressive organization comprising women and men from all corners of the globe, CUPE Ontario has a long tradition of supporting Toronto’s annual Caribana festival.
CUPE Ontario, through its Racial Justice Committee, had planned to participate in the annual parade. This year, however, given the ongoing labour dispute between the City of Toronto and its outside and inside workers, Caribana would not be the same as previous festivals for CUPE members.
We hoped for weeks that the city would step away from its unreasonable bargaining position and offer Locals 416 and 79 a fair contract, but this didn’t happen until much too late in the process for us to properly organize our Caribana events, said Racial Justice Committee Co-Chair Yolanda McClean.
For this reason, while we are happy to see the membership of both locals have now ratified their contracts, we have made the difficult decision not to have a formal presence at this year’s Caribana parade, she added.
CUPE Ontario and the Racial Justice Committee encourage all CUPE members and indeed all working people to Jump Up’ and attend the parade and other Caribana events across the city by joining with our brothers and sisters in other labour unions, central labour organizations such as the Toronto and York Region Labour Council and the Ontario Federation of Labour, and with our friends in the Federal and Provincial New Democratic Party.
Make no mistake, CUPE Ontario’s members will be on hand and supporting this year’s parade, and we’ll soon start planning to make sure our presence in next year’s parade truly shines, said McClean.
For further information, contact: Yolanda McClean, co-chair, Racial Justice Committee, 416-885-6395, Kevin Wilson, CUPE Communications, 416-292-3999 x264, 416-821-6641 (mobile).
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