About 250 CUPE delegates listen to Barlow speak at the CUPE convention yesterday. Photo by Alyssa McDonald/ Metro.
Yesterday Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow spoke at CUPE’s annual three-day convention in Regina.
Barlow gave the context of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the World Trade Organization (WTO), and then delved into the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA).
According to Metro News, policy issues being discussed include changes to Saskatchewan’s labour law through Bill 85, “the P3 funding model of Regina’s wastewater treatment plant, healthcare, the closing of Valley View Center in Moose Jaw and disparity in womens’ wages.”
The previous evening, CUPE president Paul Moist and Barlow spoke at a public forum against the proposed P3 wastewater project in Regina, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=19774.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is Canada’s largest union. With around 627,000 members across Canada, CUPE represents workers in health care, education, municipalities, libraries, universities, social services, public utilities, transportation, emergency services and airlines. In November 2011, Barlow spoke at the CUPE national convention in Vancouver, more on that at http://canadians.org/blog/?p=11686.
