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CUPE Ontario’s Semi-annual Retirees’ Meeting was held on Nov 16, 2022.
CUPE retirees from across the province discussed how best to activate retiree engagement at their locals and district councils.
CUPE retirees, including Local 1281 retiree Stephen Seaborn, march with Indigenous leaders in the fight for clean water.
Retirees join the ongoing battle to ensure a living wage for all workers.
Local 2316 retirees gather for a committee meeting.
OFL convention delegate, retired L4400 education worker, Katie McGovern.
Retired L3904 sessional instructor, Dennis Bartels, seen here with a fellow climate activist, is an authority on climate disruption.
Retired Local 5167 municipal worker, Ed Thomas is his Local’s rep to Hamilton’s Labour Council and also the 1st winner of CUPE’s Literacy Award to mark the tenth anniversary of CUPE’s National literacy campaign.
Retirees act out. Indigenous Circle chairperson and hospital worker, Joanne Webb with Local 1 hydro worker-activist, Logan Sellethurai caught campaigning to protect and expand healthcare.
Addressing union activists from the Ontario Federation of Union Retirees who gathered for the annual October 1st ceremony at Toronto’s City Hall, one of a number of events across the province to mark the day.
CUPE retiree members met in caucus at the 2019 CUPE Ontario Convention.
Marching with fellow unionists at the Labour Day Parade in Toronto, Ontario.
Call for CUPE retirees interested in working on a steering committee of the Retirees Network.
The steering committee will meet monthly to work on expanding retiree- engagement in locals and district councils across Ontario and increasing retiree activism at campaigns, rallies and strike-lines.
The committee will be composed of 6 to 8 activists.
Interested?
Send us the following information by January 31st 2023:
Email this to [email protected]
CUPE Ontario retirees are currently retired members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees living across Ontario.
When our public services, our pensions, our benefits and our public health care system are threatened by all levels of government and their corporate allies, we firmly believe that we, as retirees, must come together to fight to protect our rights. hard-won and to show our solidarity with current unionized and non-unionized workers who are fighting for better working conditions and to build a better society.
To join our network, please complete the form at the bottom of this page or simply call us at 905-739-9739 or email us at [email protected]
To join our network, fill out the form at the bottom of this page or simply call us at 905-739-9739 or e-mail us at [email protected]
CUPE Ontario‘s Retirees Network chair, Stephen Patrick Seaborn, wants to meet with your local’s retirees. Brother Seaborn is available — invite him to meet with your local’s retirees via [email protected] or text 416 737 2980.
• CUPE Retirees Network member Ed Thomas of local 5167 (pictured here on the right) has shared “terms of reference” and model By Laws for Retirees Committees at locals. Get your copy of each to share with your local. Contact [email protected]
One of the ways locals and district councils are supporting their retiree members (and, importantly, drawing retirees back into the work of our union) is by establishing, via a local meeting motion, a Retiree Council or Committee.
(Two locals and one district council have chosen to take this a step further by modelling their bylaws on CUPE Ontario’s Constitution. See below.)
Just fill in the form below:
The meeting examined:
Retiree engagement
Seven suggestions for connecting with other retirees in our locals
5 steps we can take to initiate a committee of retired (and soon-to-retire) members at the local
o Examples from some locals that have taken the additional step of adding a Retirees Committee to their Bylaws (Sample wording is available.)
o How to obtain an Honorary Retiring Card from CUPE National
o Official Retired Members Associations
Recommendations of our working group on retiree-engagement at locals and district councils included
o Setting up a steering committee of Network members in order to expand participation in the planning of our priority activities.
Retirees at the Semi-annual meeting talked about
ü Retiree delegates at convention (1 retiree for a local with up to 200 members, 2 for locals of 201+ members)
ü Support for retiree engagement from the co-Chairs of the District Councils caucus and from staff reps at locals
Fred Hahn joined the meeting and updated retirees on
o The OSBCU education workers’ and 2 other key strikes
o OMERS.
Requests to retirees included
ü Examples of fees retirees have had to pay for healthcare services
ü Photos of retirees at picket lines, campaigns and rallies
ü Interest in a retiree perspective on climate justice
ü Examples of CUPE members forced into post-retirement jobs.
Next Network meeting: Wednesday March 8th 2023, 1pm – 3pm. Watch this page for registration details.
Retirees will be asking their CUPE locals to send a retiree delegate to the next CUPE Ontario Convention in May. (The CUPE Ontario constitution allows for one delegate per local of 200 members or less and 2 delegates for locals of 201 members or more.
This is item 7 of from the 2022 CUPE Ontario Action Plan
| Action Plan Item | ACTION |
| 7 | Through our Retirees Network and working with CUPE councils, ensure that recent retirees continue to have avenues to stay involved in various levels of CUPE Ontario, to be able to use their time and motivation to support our work, while mentoring the next generation of activists, to ensure that we don’t lose the wealth of knowledge and experience those retirees have accumulated through years of activism. |
Friday October 1st was the International Day of Older Persons. Each year, this day allows retirees to reflect on the situation we are facing across Ontario.
