CUPE Workers Platform

What can be done?

Actions speak louder than words. Campaign platforms can promise everything, but workers need real, concrete steps that build power. Here are actions that are realistic, achievable, and capable of turning our union into an organizing, fighting force.

Fighting openly for fair wages and better working conditions

Taking on austerity, privatization, and any attack that undermines the services our communities rely on. Pushing back against concessions and protecting the language that keeps workers safe, respected, and secure on the job. Building coordinated campaigns that bring members together across locals and sectors, so we’re not isolated at the bargaining table. Standing firm in the belief that when workers are organized, informed, and united, we have the power to win real improvements—not just for ourselves, but for the communities we serve.

Province-wide organizing that actually builds power

What we’ll do
Create a province-wide organizer network with area-based teams that map workplaces, identify organic leaders, and support local campaigns in real time.

Build real infrastructure: training programs, organizing toolkits, coordinated call teams, rapid response support, and field plans that locals can immediately implement.

How we’ll measure it
Track active workplace leaders, not just contact lists. Measure how many locals are supported with real organizing plans. Monitor participation growth over time, especially among rank-and-file members, not just elected positions.

Stop austerity and privatization as one connected fight

What we’ll do
Name the issue clearly: chronic underfunding and privatization are not accidents—they are coordinated strategies.

Connect campaigns across sectors: municipal services, long-term care, education, and social services. Recognizing the same playbook is being used everywhere.

Build a Public Services Defense Plan with rapid response strategies when services are threatened, campaign templates for locals, and strong public messaging that connects cuts to real impacts in communities

Approach
Fighting austerity and privatization becomes a core function of the union,not an occasional campaign.

Resource allocation that reflects members’ needs

What we’ll do
Shift funding toward organizing capacity and measurable outcomes: stronger support for locals and campaigns, practical tools and training, and rapid response infrastructure.

Reduce spending on internal politics and redirect resources to frontline member engagement.

Create a transparent budgeting and priority-setting process tied directly to member-identified goals.

Bottom line
Members deserve to see where resources go and to feel the impact in their workplaces.

Rebuild internal democracy and end gatekeeping

What we’ll do
Implement a member-first accountability standard: clear reporting expectations for every elected role, regular work plans, transparent updates, and accessible summaries of decisions.

Create real pathways for rank-and-file leadership: members leading reports, structured training and mentoring, and intentional support for new activists stepping into roles.

Culture shift
End closed-door decision-making, stacked processes, and informal power structures. Build a union where participation is real, not performative.

Cross-local coordination to win better contracts

What we’ll do
Give locals resources to develop a Collective Agreement Expiry Map so locals know when others are bargaining.

Create coordinated bargaining clusters across sectors municipal, long-term care, universities, social services. So workers move together instead of in isolation.

Establish shared demand frameworks where appropriate: wages, staffing levels, workload protections, contracting-out language, and benefits.

Outcome
Employers lose the ability to pick locals off one by one. Workers gain leverage by moving together.