June 3, 2006

Letter to the Toronto Star - You don't get much more democratic than that

This editorial from the Montreal Gazette asks why CUPE doesn't canvass all its 200,000 members in Ontario regarding the resolution on boycotting Israeli goods that passed at our recent convention. That is like calling for a referendum on every question before Parliament or the provincial Legislature.
  
 
Delegates to our conventions are elected by their locals - and this year we had more delegates than ever before in our history. Our resolutions book is mailed out to all affiliated locals well before convention so that members have an opportunity to debate policy and give instructions to their delegates. You don't get much more democratic than that.
  
 
The resolution submitted by several CUPE Ontario locals was designed to draw attention to the lives of ordinary, innocent civilians living in horrific conditions in Palestine. Delegates were frustrated with an Israeli government that continues to
construct a wall that was declared illegal in 2004 by the International Court of Justice.

At the same time, our union supports a peace process based on equality between Israelis and Palestinians and on the implementation of United Nations resolutions and international law.
  
 
Our union has a history of supporting just causes at home and abroad. At the same convention, delegates condemned Egyptian government arrests of activists protesting disciplinary action against two judges who raised concerns about fraud in the 2005 elections there and called for guarantees of judicial independence. In answer to some of the questions raised in this editorial, we also have policy on the books regarding support for union activists in China, workers in Colombia and much more.
  
Patrick (Sid) Ryan,
 
President, CUPE Ontario
     http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1149285033451&call_pageid=970599119419

June 2, 2006

Letter to the Editor, Globe and Mail - CUPE and Israel

Toronto -- Natan Sharansky (This Boycott Call Is Un-Canadian -- June 1), is
right when he says Canadians have been key partners and leaders in global
human-rights campaigns. The Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario
Division is proud to be part of that tradition.

We have a history of supporting just causes at home and abroad. That is why
our members, at their 2003 national convention, supported a resolution
calling on the Israeli government to withdraw immediately from the occupied
territories and abide by UN resolutions 242 and 338. As well, they agreed to
actively work toward an end to all acts of violence that take the lives of
innocent people, whether they be Palestinian or Israeli.

But they are frustrated with a government that continues to build a wall
that was declared illegal in 2004 by the International Court of Justice.
They voted to join with many church congregations, a large number of
organizations in Quebec and other unions around the world to support a
boycott campaign against Israel.

The resolution submitted by several CUPE Ontario locals was designed to draw
attention to the lives of ordinary, innocent civilians living in horrific
conditions in Palestine. At the same time, our union continues to support a
peace process based on equality between Israelis and Palestinians and based
on the implementation of United Nations resolutions and international law.

Patrick (Sid) Ryan
President, CUPE Ontario

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