Publications

This report outlines the work of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) for 2017.

The Labour Movement after Fraser is a report of a seminar held May 30, 2011 on the Supreme Court of Canada decision on AG of Ontario v. Fraser.

The manual is an easy-to-use guide including much of what you need to know about pensions and retirement from a union perspective and a valuable resource to help educate activists in the field of pensions.  The 170-page manual contains 14 chapters covering a variety of pension's topics.

Probation and Parole Officers are mandated with protecting the public, rehabilitating the offender and ensuring that justice is served.  They are integral parts of the entire process an offender passes through — from pre-trail to post-sentencing.  All of this would be a tall order under the best circumstances.  Unfortunately, the system in Canada is not operating as well as it should.  

This leaflet stresses the need for a universal early learning and child care program in Canada.  Research shows that access to quality learning and child care enhances children's development in every way — intellectually, physically, emotionally and linguistically. As well, an early learning and child care program creates jobs and economic activiity at the community level as the majority of child care dollars are spent locally and invested in people since the sector is labour intensive.  

Correctional Officers of this country walk into an environment comprised of people who have been convicted of breaking the law with not much more than their courage, convictions and intelligence.  It is time we all recognize that jails that support both the workers and inmates are essential for a society to deal effectively with crime.

Canadians cherish our universal, public health care system. It provides access to quality life-long health care services for all Canadians, regardless of wealth, social status or other barriers. For the most part, this is true. Sadly, though, there is a hole in Canada’s health care system. For tens of thousands of Canada’s seniors today – and many thousands more in the years ahead – the universality of our health care system ends at the doors of nursing home facilities. Some of these facilities are excellent, serving as a beacon for the care of seniors. Sadly, they seem to be the exception. As a result of government neglect and corporate profit-taking, the needs of many seniors have been swept under the carpet, abandoned and ignored by health care commissions, politicians and policy makers alike. This report details the ongoing crisis in nursing home care across the country and it proposes a series of bold and sweeping reforms to ensure our elderly get the care they need and deserve.

In 2013 the National Union's Women's Training Session brought together activists from across the country to discuss two important initiatives:  the Quality of Women's Lives project and the All Together Now! campaign's Women 4 Change.  Throughout the day and half training session, activists heard speakers on life balance/work balance, on the use of social media as well as information on the two initiatives.  During the training session, participants took part in two workshops.  They enthusiastically talked, debated, shared and strategized.  The report of the training session includes a summary of their hard work.

This educational leaflet is designed to promote and strengthen Women's Committees in unions. This leaflet explains that women's committees are an essential factor in reaching our goal of creating stronger unions by empowering individuals and building solidarity. At the same time, women's committees bring us closer to our shared principles of equality, justice and fairness for all. Find out why every union needs an active women's committee by reading this pamphlet.

Are you concerned about the erosion of collective bargaining rights of working people in Canada and committed to reversing this dangerous trend?  If so, then make sure you get the elected leaders in your community to sign the Workers’ Bill of Rights, a pledge affirming that all workers have the right to join a union and bargain collectively.

How to protect public services.

This pamphlet summaries the NUPGE's webinar series on pensions. There will be 5 webinars: 

• Canada’s retirement system
• Plan funding and the role of the actuary
• Pension investment
• Pension law
• Capital Stewardship

A Young Person Graphically Organizes Three Ways Unions Matter, by Nicholas LeBlanc

A quick review of the kind of government Stephen Harper has given us during his three terms as prime minister of Canada.

This publication outlines problems contained in the federal Conservative government's new, and far reaching, anti-terrorism bill. Bill C-51 lacks oversight and review mechanisms while giving increased powers to Canada's security agencies. Find out why Bill C-51 is such a dangerous piece of legislation.

Louis Fournier. 

1948-2014

A personal remembrance by James Clancy

Conference Report outlines tricks of privatization industry and tactics to fight back.

"Fighting privatization will not be easy. But as we learned during the International Conference on the New Forms of Privatization, it's a fight that we can and will win," says NUPGE National President James Clancy.

Why don't we have a national home care program yet?

The Quality of Women's Lives project focuses on the issue of life/work balance and the additional stresses women face balancing their family responsibilites with their workplace responsibilities.  The National Union conducted a survey which identified the reality that women are experiencing increased stress juggling issues such as child care and elder care, growing personal and health concerns, workplace pressures and economic insecurity.  The Key Findings of the Quality of Women's Lives Survey is a compilation of the results of the survey as well as the latest research statistics.

When discussing various national and international trade agreements the alphabet soup of acronyms and range of issues quickly becomes confusing.  However, it is important that Canadians understand what our government is negotiating in our name and what the impact of these agreements will be on our economy, democracy and society.  This background document provides and introduction and overview of four of the most important agreements: The World Trade Organization's General Agreement on Trade in Services; Continental Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP); The Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA); and, Atlantica.

For many people and for many reasons: unions matter!

Volume One of Unions Matter:  A reader contains a collection of work from a variety of sources telling the story of the power of unions and their members.  The writings come from authors, poets, activists and singer-songwriters sharing why unions matter to them.  The reader also contains some of the work from the Why Unions Matter contest winners.

Since privatization first reared its ugly head, there has been a constant push to find new ways for the private sector to make money from public services. This report provides details of what new forms of privatization and what we can do to fight them.

Social Impact Bonds are another way for governments to borrow money without it showing up on the books as debt.  IN the process social services are privatized with investor profits and the new layers of bureaucracy Social Impact Bonds require pushing up costs.  Because the intermediary organizations providing services must make a profit for investors, those most in need will have nowhere to go if it is too difficult or too expensive to help them.

This small and easily distributed handbill uses the Fairness Express campaign's "Road to Fairness" concept to outline the All Together Now! campaign analysis of the major causes—and cures—of rising income inequality.  Income inequality rises when a country travels a path towards unfair taxes, declining public services, eroded labour rights and no industrial strategy.  Income inequality eases when we head instead for tax fairness, quality public services, labour rights and a modern industrial strategy.

This leaflet describes the top five actions governments should take to meet and beat greenhouse gas emission reductions required to keep our climate in check. It encourages readers to take action by writing their municipal, provincial and federal government representatives with these top five priorities.

Another pamphlet in the NUPGE series: Smart Money: Consumer self-defense for times like these. Scavengers in the debt crisis exposes the predatory nature of the Pay Day Loan industry in Canada. The piece explains the regulations by province, if any, to ensure readers understand what the companies can charge. The publication also sets out steps Canadians and our government can take to regulate the industry to protect people from outrageous interest and behaviour. The Smart Money series provides straightforward yet critical information on issues like these that families face today — and advice on how the public can fight back.

Our Medicare is the triumph of values and economics.  It provides all Canadians with equal access to care on the basis of need, not wealth, privilege or status.  A large majority of Canadians are highly satisfied with the quality and standard of care Medicare gives them. Over the last 40 years our Medicare has served us very well. Our Medicare is worth celebrating and defending.  But more than that, our Medicare is, quite simply, a good and sensible idea that works.  But there is room for improvement. It is up to us to press for and win those improvements and still stay true to the idea and ideals of a universal, public health care system.

Some corporations want to create a two-tier Internet that would allow them to slow or even block content that is not in their corporate interests.  This issue is called Network Neutrality the "principle that all Internet traffic be treated equally, regardless of origin, destination, or application type."  This is not an issue solely about corporate profit or the growing power of telecommunications companies - it is also about the rights of citizens to exercise control over one of the greatest innovations in communications history.  Should these companies succeed, it will undermine the Internet's level playing field and will make it much more difficult for the small and independent voice to be heard on the web.
 

Access to the Internet is rapidly becoming a necessity for many in the developed and developing world. In a very real way access to the Internet, in particular the high-speed broadband capability, is becoming yet another defining factor between the world's haves and have-nots.  This digital divide exists both between countries and within a country. It is not only between the have countries of the developed world and the have-nots of the developing world but between rich and poor, urban and rural in Canada.  In addition, some corporations want to create a two-tier Internet that would allow them to slow or even block content that is not in their corporate interests.  This issue is called Network Neutrality the "principle that all Internet traffic be treated equally, regardless of origin, destination, or application type."  This is not an issue solely about corporate profit or the growing power of telecommunications companies - it is also about the rights of citizens to exercise control over one of the greatest innovations in communications history.  Should these companies succeed, it will undermine the Internet's level playing field and will make it much more difficult for the small and independent voice to be heard on the web.

Federal transfer payments to the provinces, through the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) and the Canada Social Transfer (CST), help fund public Medicare, post-secondary education and other important public services.  These important blocks of funding will be re-negotiated in 2014 by Harper and the Premiers. We need to ensure these transfers are protected and strengthened.  The three fact sheets look at the facts and importance of these transfers for Public Post-Secondary Education, Community-based Social Services and Medicare.

There are creative ideas and policies that can make the international financial system more secure AND pay for public services AND fight climate change-abroad and at home! The Robin Hood Tax is a proposal for a tiny tax (as low as 0.05%) on trades in stocks, bonds,
currencies, "derivatives" and other financial products. It would NOT affect ordinary consumers. It also could generate billions internationally to fight global poverty, and fund global public goods, such as health care, and to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

A tax on financial transactions could also play a role in creating greater stability of the financial system by reducing risky short-term speculation that is fueled by greed and which was a major cause of the current economic crisis.  Banks and financial institutions benefited for decades from the absence of meaningful regulation. This absence of regulation and their unbridled greed are largely responsible for the recent economic crisis. It is time for them to pay their fair share.

This paper provides an historical overview the scope of protection of workers' rights provided by Canadian courts in their interpretation of section 2(d) – freedom of association of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

This primer counters all the myths surrounding 'Right to Work'' laws. Contrary to what the name suggests, 'Right to Work' laws have nothing to do with the right to paid employment. Instead, what they really do is make it easier for corporations to drive down wages for all workers. That’s why those who’ve seen what they do call them “Right to Work for Less” laws.

This pamphlet provides a summary of a March 2012 International Labour Organization report reviewing the extent of Canada’s compliance to the ILO’s most fundamental Convention – No. 87, Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize.  The report cites over 20 instances where governments across Canada have refused to change labour laws the ILO has ruled in the past to be not in compliance with Convention No. 87.

A tool to be used during election campaigns asking candidates for public office to pledge to make health care a priority issue.  Candidates declare their support and, if elected, commitment to work for the implementation of three items of a health care agenda:  1) an end to the expansion of private, for profit, health care; 2) improving and expanding Senior Care services; and 3) the establishment of a national PharmaCare program to cover not just catastrophic medications but all medically necessary drugs.

Why are Canadians charged some of the highest fees in the world which provide for some of the highest revenues while having some of the lowest rates of cell phone usage? Why is the government standing idly by refusing to play a role in regulating this industry?