Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in November 2020

National Aboriginal Veterans Day

Published November 8, 2020
National Aboriginal Veterans Day
Today is National Aboriginal Veterans Day, a day of remembrance to the contributions of Indigenous Veterans in the First and Second World Wars, as well as the Korean War.  This Indigenous Veterans Day, CUPE1091 would like to express our gratitude for the contributions Indigenous Veterans have made to Canada and the world.  

National Indigenous Veterans Day began in Winnipeg in 1994 when Indigenous Veterans were not recognized in Remembrance Day activities, and is now celebrated in many communities across Canada.  Over 12,000 Indigenous people are estimated to have volunteered in all three wars, including 7,000 First Nations members, and approximately 300 died during these conflicts. 

First Nations, Inuit and Metis people were not eligible for conscription because they were not citizens of Canada (they were also unable to vote), but many volunteered despite the challenges they faced, including traveling long distances from remote communities to enlist, learning a new language (English), and coping with racism against them.  Indigenous people were not allowed to join the Canadian Air Force until 1942 and the Canadian Navy until 1943.  Both men and women enlisted, serving as soldiers, nurses and in other roles.  Many served with distinction, winning medals for bravery action. 

After the war, enlisted Indigenous people returned home to continued discrimination, including in some cases denial of benefits, loss of Indian Status, and expropriation of their land by the government for non-Indigenous veterans.  It was only in 1995 that Indigenous veterans were allowed to lay wreaths commemorating their fallen comrades at the national War Memorial in Ottawa.  The first monument commemorating the role of Indigenous people during these three was dedicated in 2001 in Ottawa.  It took until 2003 for the Government of Canada to provide veterans’ benefits to First Nations soldiers who had been denied them in the past, and Metis veterans have never received them. 

Learn more about Indigenous Veterans at Veterans Affairs Canada:   www.veterans.gc.ca

Thank You,
Daun

Workplace Violence and Harassment Survey

Published November 4, 2020

To CUPE1091 Members:

We are are excited to announce a new national survey on workplace violence and harassment that will help advance our work tackling sexual harassment and building safer workplaces. It is the first ever survey on violence and sexual harassment in the workplace with a national reach in Canada.

The survey is being conducted by the Canadian Labour Congress in partnership with research experts at Western University.
We need all workers to fill it out—workers of every gender, whether or not you have experienced or witnessed workplace violence or harassment. This is how we will get a clearer picture of workers’ experiences in workplaces across the country.
Like with the ground-breaking Domestic Violence at Work project, the results of this research will inform policy and education initiatives on workplace violence and sexual harassment.
The survey is open to workers 18 years of age or older. It takes approximately 10 to 30 minutes to complete. All respondents will remain anonymous.

We have emailed all members from MASTER: CUPE1091. If you did not receive this important survey contact the Union Office at: local1091@telus.net.

Thank you for your help in making this important survey a success.