Article content continued

A little over a year ago, the Carleton board of governors were trying to get CUPE 2424 to strip any mention of pension bargaining rights from their collective agreement. It would have made the plan less reliable and given members less control. But our members were not willing to gamble their pensions after already earning the right to a dignified, secure retirement. So, in response, they took to the picket lines for four weeks in the middle of a blistering cold Ottawa winter. They called in community allies. And they sharpened their pencils, did their homework, and they wound up uncovering some shocking revelations about the university’s bad math and previous bad practices.

In the end, not only did the university back down from trying to gut their pension language. And not only did CUPE 2424 prevent the erosion of pension rights across their sector. CUPE 2424 left negotiations with some of the strongest pension language in their sector across Canada.

That’s just one example. But if we look at other recent shows of perseverance by CUPE members at the Vancouver Art Gallery, or at the City of Weyburn, or at the Journal de Quebec newspaper, or at dozens of other workplaces in Canada, we see a similar story. It’s a story of working people defending what they’ve earned and refusing to take one step forward only to take two steps back.

Unions drive wage growth for low- and middle-income Canadians. And we don’t do it by laying down and accepting the erosion of our wages and working conditions, and the security of our jobs and our retirement.

In every community across Canada, we are protecting what generations of working people have earned, like good pensions and decent wages. At the same time, as we lead the way on issues like pay equity, we’re also paving the way to a fairer and more equitable future for everyone.

Mark Hancock is the National President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.