Submitted by Tanya Burnside, MAHCP Vice President
This was the first convention MAHCP delegates attended as a component of NUPGE (National Union of Pubic and General Employees) and it did not disappoint!
Being in a room filled with 400 other activists from across the country was a valuable learning experience and a great way to have discussions and build networks with various other unions across the country.
I sit on the Advisory Council for Women’s Issues (ACWI) and finally met my fellow committee members in person (we meet virtually throughout the year). We discussed some of the resolutions we put forward to convention:
1) Women and Health – Lack of primary care providers (doctors and nurse practitioners) across the country as over 6 million Canadians do not have a family doctor/Nurse Practitioner and the lack of women’s medical research as women receive less than 7% of the medical funding;
2) Intimate partner violence/domestic violence – Needs more funding and resources allocated including workers in this area of work have training and receive decent wages and benefits;
(3) Period Poverty in Canada- Cost of products continue to increase and gender based pricing also known as the pink tax which adds an additional cost to products marketed primarily towards women. Costs are a barrier as some simply can not afford to purchase or purchase enough- this is referred to period poverty. Our resolution asked NUPGE to lobby all levels of government to provide free menstrual products.
The convention also hosted a couple of engaging guest speakers: Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers which represents 1.8 million educators, health care professionals and public sector workers across the United States, and Fae Johnstone, Executive Director and Co-founder of the Society of Queer Momentum who spoke about the mobilization of advocates and allies towards a more free, equal, and socially-just future.
Most of the convention dealt with resolutions the components had put forward for NUPGE advocacy planning. MAHCP put forward a resolution asking NUPGE to advocate/lobby for a federal human resource action plan for allied health, as the allied health sector across Canada is facing a crucial tipping point. There is simply not enough of us to perform the work. We need investments in people to acquire the skills and training to become an allied health professional and then to have strong enough compensation and benefits to retain them.
Fredericton was a beautiful city and the host unions, New Brunswick Union (NBU) and NUPGE, had many great events throughout the convention to showcase New Brunswick and create networking opportunities. It was also nice for MAHCP attendees (delegates and observers) to get to know one another and do activities and events together.
The convention was a great experience, and I am grateful I was given the opportunity to attend as a delegate and represent MAHCP.