LATEST NEWS:

CUPE Ontario Semi-annual Retirees Meeting 

March 22-23 2023. (Wednesday 12 noon to Thursday 1pm)

Locals and District Councils are strongly encouraged to send a retiree delegate.

See details: https://cupe.on.ca/calendar/

Members in Action – Retirees Network:

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]

Image shows Stephen Seaborn stading at a PRO microphone at a union convention, speaking.
Current chair/executive board rep of our Retirees Network, Stephen Seaborn of CUPE Local 1281.

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.

Rally photo

• 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]

Retiree Engagement:

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.

  • Support from CUPE Staff Reps is, of course, really important for promoting retiree engagement by setting up Retirees’ Committees.

(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.)

Join the Retirees Network

Just fill in the form below:

    First Name (required)

    Last Name (required)

    Personal E-mail address (required)

    Previous Local Number (required)

    Home Address (required)

    City/Town (required)

    Province (required)

    Postal Code (required)

    Primary Phone:

    Cell Phone:

    Home Phone:

    Work Phone:

    Image shows six Retirees' Network members gathered around a "Retirees" Network table display sign.

    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.
    Agenda

    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.

    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.