March 29, 2010
Dear CULE Member,
During the course of its face to face meeting held last weekend, the CULE Executive made a number of decisions concerning the implementation of convention resolutions adopted at our CULE Convention in January 2010. A full report is posted with the minutes on the CULE website.
However, I wish to draw your attention to certain General Resolutions that involve political action and or lobbying. In order to maximize the impact of CULE’s involvement in these important issues it was felt that CULE members themselves were best placed to influence change. The specific ‘be it resolves’ are reproduced below.
GN – 10 CULE Community Partnerships
…be it resolved that CULE forge partnerships with community organizations toward achieving better work conditions for the Young Workers who are finding themselves in these unconventional work circumstances.
GN – 11 Public Education
… be it resolved that CULE call on all Provincial and Federal levels of Government to immediately develop a comprehensive educational policy to address underlyinmg structural racism in schools and society.
Be it further resolved that the comprehensive anti-racism/educational funding must be transparent and linked to policy development implementation, education and accountability and that components of a comprehensive educational policy must address: a) curriculum, training, teaching, b) bullying and “Safe School” policies, and c) ESL/ASL.
GN – 13 Employment & Poverty
…be it resolved that CULE call on all levels of Canadian Governments to consult with groups representing people of colour and aboriginal communities to allocate dedicated resources and develop specific targeted strategies to address the needs of people of colour and aboriginal communities in all government initiatives and programs such as housing, health care, child care, education and training, and employment insurance programs.
GN – 14 Reparations for Africa
…. be it resolved that CULE call on the Government of Canada to issue an apology for the practice of slavery in Canada; and
Be it further resolved that CULE call on the Government of Canada to immediately enter into negotiations with the African Canadian communities to pay reparations in order to repair and restore the loss and harm for centuries of free labour and the atrocities committed against African Canadians during the slave trade, practice of slavery, and its continuing legacy of marginalization, exclusion, poverty and deprivation.
GN – 15 Lobbying to Repeal Bill 8 in Ontario (Employment Equity)
…be it resolved that CULE support Colour of Poverty/Change network and the broader Canadian Labour Movement to vigorously lobby for a repeal of Bill 8; and
Be it further resolved that CULE defend employment and pay equity for First Nations, Aboriginal groups and all equity-seeking groups.
GN – 16 Canadian Financial Institutions
…be it resolved that CULE and the Canadian Labour Movement call on the Federal and Provincial Governments to introduce legisaltion and regulations allowing co-operatives and individuals greater ease and access to funds, micro-loans substantial and per capita monies to micro-businesses; and
Be it further resolved that CULE and the Canadian Labour Movement call on the Federal and Provincial Governments to provide significant funding for energy- efficient, sustainable and affordable housing for the economically-disenfranchised; and
Be it further resolved that CULE and the Canadian Labour Movement call on the federal and provincial Governments to adopt policies and practices where banking privileges for ordinary working people affording democratic participation in Canadian society.
GN – 17 Casualization of Work
…be it resolved that the CULE along with Labour support and develop a campaign that will mobilize casualized workers and bring awareness about the nature of casualization and the inequalities that it creates.
As you can see much thought has gone into developing these resolutions around a host of issues important to working people in this country. As such the General Resolutions Committee did not hesitate to recommend to our Convention delegates that they adopt them. However, if they are to go beyond fine words in our Convention report we need to take concrete action. A number of options are available:
Firstly, CULE members can write letters to various levels of government. Secondly, since some of the resolutions encourage us to make connections with community or labour groups we could approach these where we live. For example, as we affiliate to our local District Labour Councils we could raise these issues at their monthly meetings and seek their support for our initiatives. At the end of the day it would be very useful to know what steps have been taken to implement these resolutions.
Therefore, as letters are written or meetings attended it would be greatly appreciated if the CULE Secretary (currently Bob Allen) is kept informed along the way. These reports will be shared with other members on our web and reported in the minutes of our Executive Meetings.
In closing let me just add that your CULE executive and I are very proud of the work CULE members were able to achieve at our Convention. It bodes well for our collective commitment to social justice issues in the future!
In solidarity,
Dave Jackson, CULE President