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.
CUPE Ontario retirees are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees currently retired and living across Ontario.
When our public services, pensions, benefits, and public healthcare system are threatened by all levels of governments and their corporate allies, we strongly believe that we as retirees need to come together to fight to protect our hard won-rights and to express our solidarity to the current unionized and non-unionized workers who are fighting for better working conditions and to build a better society.
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.
Just fill in the form below.
Retirees’ Semi-Annual Meeting
More that 40 retirees represented locals and district councils across Ontario were at CUPE Ontario’s 2nd Semi-Annual Retirees Meeting in November. It was the largest ever gathering of CUPE retirees in Canada!
CUPE Ontario President, Fred Hahn, spoke of the importance of retiree activism and answered our questions about the extremely serious danger posed by the Ford Conservatives’ bill which will gut key aspects of Ontario’s Employment Standards Act.
Retirees presented and exchanged various successes (and barriers) is the formation of retiree capacity at each of our locals and district councils. Some locals have begun tracking members as they transition to retirement. Many do not. Not as yet.
Delegates were urged by the Retirees Network Chair to seek delegate status from each of our locals for the upcoming CUPE Ontario Convention in April.
View Fred Hahn’s presentation and more here.
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.
Here are four observations by our Retirees’ Network Chair, Stephen Seaborn, of Local 1281:
The cutbacks to public services for older and retired workers are also in direct violation of Canada’s international treaty commitments under the UN declaration on the Human Rights of Older Persons.
• Serious cuts are being made to the services delivered by the now-retired members of CUPE
• Ford’s cuts directly violate the human rights of older persons as defined by the UN Independent Expert on older adults.
• Cuts in our communities impact CUPE’s retired members across Ontario. Our reliance on long term care facilities, hospitals, municipal health service supports for disabilities are increasing just as those services fall victim to dramatic cutbacks.
“Recycling” our members back into activism provides huge potential in the age of Doug Ford. ♻️
The impact of profit-driven climate disruption on the very survival of our retirees’ grandchildren.
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.)
• 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]
