YORK REGION, ON – Education workers with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) are firmly rooted in their communities, and delegates at a sectoral union conference in York Region last week decided to show their commitment to that community by raising funds for Belinda’s Place, a local women’s shelter.

Education workers with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), who came from across the province to attend an annual conference for their sector, raised more than $3800 in donations.  Representing his colleagues, Todd Canning, President of CUPE Local 1734 with the York Region District School Board, will today deliver a cheque to the shelter.

The money collected was presented to Rodney Hiscock, Business Director for Belinda’s Place, who accepted the donation on behalf of the organization.

“CUPE has a longstanding commitment to fighting for affordable housing and to supporting shelters in our communities,” said Terri Preston, chair of the CUPE Ontario School Boards Coordinating Committee.  “Education workers see the effects of poverty and crisis on kids and families every day at work – and we wanted to give something back to a shelter in York Region, where we held our conference this year. We hope the funds raised will make a difference.”

 55,000 CUPE members in the school board sector work as educational assistants (EAs), custodians, office administrators, designated early childhood educators (DECEs), tradespeople, instructors, library technicians, speech pathologists, IT specialists and in many other job classifications.

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For more information:

Todd Canning, President, CUPE Local 1734, (289) 338-6894

Andrea Addario, CUPE Communications, (416) 738-4329