August 20 2026
The largest ever NUPGE Leadership Development School wrapped up today in Barrie, Ontario. The 31 participants will leave eager to put what they’ve learned to work to build a stronger labour movement.
NUPGE’s Leadership Development School gives participants the tools they need to take on the corporate forces attacking working people and their unions. That includes how to use our biggest strength—the knowledge, experience and solidarity of our members.
Bert Blundon, NUPGE President
According to Jason MacLean, NUPGE Secretary Treasurer, “What makes the Leadership Development School successful is the combination of in-class and informal learning. People learn from experts on issues affecting the labour movement or different approaches to leadership. Then discussions in and out of class allow them to think about how what they’ve learned applies to their Components and to learn from what labour activists elsewhere are doing.”
Participants discuss challenges unions and working people face—and how to overcome them
A wide range of issues were covered in sessions. Elaine Bernard, former Executive Director of the Harvard University’s Labor and Worklife Program, and Derek Fudge, a retired National Director of Public Policy and Research at NUPGE, delivered the core program. Other topics ranged from tax fairness to fighting racism and from AI to harassment and violence at work.
Speakers at NUPGE’s 2026 Leadership Development School were:
- Adriana Berlingieri, Western University: on Harassment and Violence at Work in Canada
- Asmita Bhutani, York University: The impact of AI and automation on public service workers
- Jared A. Walker, Canadians for Tax Fairness (C4TF): Eat the Rich 101: Demystifying Tax Fairness
- Stephanie Ross, McMaster University: The Renewed Attack on Unions
- Brittany Mathews, First Nations Child & Family Caring Society: Spirit Bear’s Guide to Reconciliation: Collective Action to Achieve Justice with First Nations Children
- Yasemin Tanaçan-Blacklock, National Representative (EDIA), NUPGE: Anti-Racist outcomes for union members
- Stuart Trew, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA): Trade agreements, foreign investment and the public sector
- Larry Brown, Past President, NUPGE: Accountability and Good Governance in Unions
- Michèle Biss, National Right to Housing Network (NRHN): Canada’s housing crisis and human rights
- Siobhán Vipond, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC): Unions and Democracy
- Brendan O’Brien, Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU): The Irish Labour Movement
- Gauri Sreenivasan, Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR): Refugee and Migrant rights are worker rights
- Ethan Young, Public Services International (PSI): Global Solidarity
Solidarity with striking community and social services workers
Participants also took the time to send out a message of solidarity to OPSEU/SEFPO members in the community services sector who are out on strike. Underfunding and anti-worker legislation mean people have trouble getting the services they desperately need and workers are struggling to get by. OPSEU/SEFPO members in the community and social services sector who are on strike are demanding both fair treatment for workers and an end to underfunding.