Young Workers’ School at Camp Jubilee

Contact your executive if you are interested or know of someone that would be a good fit.

CUPE 1936: Sheryl Burns, Bernice Way or Lee Ann Lalli. 604 522-8445

Join young workers from around the province for a weekend of learning, connecting and outdoor activities.

Each year the BCFED hosts a Young Workers’ School at Camp Jubilee for workers aged 30 or under. The School is held in a retreat-like environment in the Indian Arm. Participants will attend courses to help them build skills related to the labour movement, political and community organizing, and leadership skills. In addition to coursework, attendees will be able to participate in a variety of outdoor activities and connect with other young workers from around the province.

This year’s School will be held September 15-17, 2017.

Participants will depart from Deep Cove Public Docks on Friday afternoon and return on Sunday afternoon. Please arrive at Deep Cove by 3:30 pm on Friday, September 15.

Parking is limited. Participants are encouraged to carpool. Bus shuttle service will be provided from the Lonsdale Quay to the Deep Cove dock. To register for the shuttle, please choose this option in your registration.

COME VOLUNTEER WITH PRIDE 2017!

Volunteers are an essential part of making the magic of Pride happen, and we are continually looking for volunteers to fill a number of positions throughout the Pride season. Be part of Pride this year, and volunteer at all of your favourite Pride events! From East Side Pride to the Annual Pride Parade, we need your help to build a more tolerant and inclusive Vancouver for all people!

Sign up to volunteer today!

Pride Volunteer Opportunities
Here are just a few examples of volunteer roles that we have available for the 2017 Pride season!

Legacy Awards, East Side Pride, Pride Sports Day and much more!

  • Event Set up Crew: Are you a morning person? Help us set up our amazing events!
  • Event Tear Down Crew: Do you prefer evenings? We always need help tearing down the event!
  • Event Volunteers: Help with volunteer registration, greeting, answering questions etc!
  • Office Volunteers: filing, data entry, We always need some extra help in our office during Pride season!

    Pride Parade!

    • Staging Area Marshal: Help entries park their floats before the parade!
    • Parade Route Marshal: Help floats along the Parade Route!
    • Flag Bearers/Pace Makers: Carry the Rainbow Flag proudly and help set the pace for Parade entries!
    • Greening Crew: Keep our Parade Green, help people get recycling to our recycling stations!
    • Dispersal Area Marshal: Help floats get their parade decorations tied down and ready to get back on the road!
    • Accessibility Services: Help seniors and people with differing abilities and needs enjoy the parade!
    • MC Assistant: Keep our 3 Parade MCs going on while they describe Parade entries for three hours (they’ll sure need water)!
    • Traffic Control: Keep people off the streets and on the sidewalks!

    Are you a Leader?
    The Vancouver Pride Society is looking for an awesome group of outgoing and passionate individuals to help staff make our events as magical as possible! The following roles are available: Team Leads, Captains, and Pride Patrol.

    For More information on leadership roles, please contact Alicea at our office 604-687-0955 or email her volunteercoordinator@vancouverpride.ca

Save the Date: Gender Equality

SPACE IS LIMITED Order tickets here

As a person who is keenly interested in your community, you will want to know about an exciting event coming to Vancouver. Please join us at GENDER EQUALITY NOW – a world class event for people such as yourself who care about human rights and what we can do to advance gender equality, both locally and globally.

This one day symposium will feature keynote speakers and an interactive panel with international and local expertise on gender equality. We will learn from their experiences and explore strategies for positive change.
Keynote speakers are:
· Bette Levy, Vice Chair of the NGO (non-governmental organization) Committee of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and
· Emilia Reyes, Gender-Responsive Public Policy Consultant to the U.N., and the governments of Finland, Denmark and Mexico

The Experts’ Panel discussion will highlight actions both needed and undertaken by government, business and civil society. Audience members will be invited to participate in the discussions followed by a Q & A session.
A workshop will follow, engaging participants in moving forward with collective action.
The Panelists are:
· Senator Mobina Jaffer, most recently the Chair of the Senate study on sexual exploitation of children; former Chair of the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace, and Security.
· Ajit Mehat, former Director General at Human Resources & Skills Development Canada, and CEO of OHSA at Health Canada. Ajit has spearheaded changes to policies to support vulnerable female populations.
· Maureen Fitzgerald, Gender Diversity Advisor, former policy/human rights lawyer and author. Maureen has consulted to many corporations on increasing gender diversity and equality. As a labour lawyer she fought for human rights and women’s equality.

GENDER EQUALITY NOW will enhance your awareness of the issues, provide practical tools for taking action within our communities, and highlight collective mobilization of advocacy on a large scale.

This session is being presented by the Western Canada Region of Soroptimist International a service club whose mandate is to improve the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and economic empowerment.

We hope you can join us!

CUPE attends ILO meeting on decent work for persons with disabilities

CUPE member and Local 1936 President Sheryl Burns represented CUPE at a meeting on decent work for persons with disabilities at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva this week. Sheryl is the co-chair of CUPE’s National Women’s Committee and the committee’s representative for persons with disabilities.

Read the full article on CUPE National’s website by clicking here.

Moon Lights the Way for our President Michael Lanier

It is with tremendous sadness that we inform you that our long-term, committed President, Michael Lanier passed into the next realm, guided by the light of the full moon. He will be truly missed by all of us. His dedication to our local and the labour movement along with his life-long commitment to social justice issues has left a lasting impact on our community. Michael never passed up an opportunity to advocate on behalf of our members, for community social service and child care issues. He was a constant presence at the microphones at conventions and conferences and regularly attended picket lines for CUPE and non-CUPE members alike. Michael was frequently seen at rallies throughout the Lower Mainland.

Michael was also a Regional Vice-President of CUPE BC and was extraordinarily proud to represent CUPE Metro and Community Social Service members on the CUPE BC Executive Board. He was also a strong and passionate advocate for childcare issues and worked closely with the Child Care Coalition and was co-chair of the CUPE BC Childcare Working Group and the CUPE National Childcare Working Group. He was committed to achieving a publicly funded, accessible, affordable and quality childcare system. Michael was also Co-Chair of the CUPE BC Community Social Services Committee and Co-Chaired the first Community Social Services Sectoral Conference. Michael bargained in every single round of Community Social Services negotiations on behalf of CUPE members throughout British Columbia since the 1998-99 round of provincial bargaining. He also negotiated several “stand-alone” Collective Agreements on behalf of members within our Local. In his many years as a 3999 and 1936 member and President, Michael advocated on behalf of members in grievance meetings and membership meetings, achieving positive results. Michael was famous for his IT abilities and created and maintained the CUPE Local 1936 website, and advanced Community Social Service and Childcare issues through social media, primarily Facebook and Twitter. Michael also had a passion for photography and everywhere he went, he was the guy behind the camera recording events for posterity.

It is impossible to capture in this brief synopsis, the breadth of Michael’s activism and of his life. There is so much more that could be said here about Michael. Michael was a true “jack of all trades”. Most importantly, Michael is best remembered for his kindness and for his loyalty. He was always willing to lend a helping hand when needed and was a tremendous role model for all of us.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Michael’s family and friends during this difficult period. We will keep you informed of dates and times in which Michael’s life will be honoured and celebrated.

Should you require any assistance with union related business, please call the CUPE Local 1936 office at 604-522-8445 or email Sheryl Burns, the Local Vice-President at sburns00@hotmail.com. Should you have any administrative related issues, please feel free to contact Bernice Way, the Local Treasurer at bernicemway@gmail.com.

With deepest condolences,
Sheryl Burns, Vice-President and Bernice Way, Treasurer of CUPE Local 1936