United Food & Commercial Workers Union
Local 1400

Aboriginal Committee Report Archives

2007 Aboriginal Committee Reports

Summer, 2007

One of the many ways that diversity can be positive rather than become negative is through the education of our members. UFCW Local 1400 held their second Unionism on Turtle Island course from May 28 to June 1, 2007.

Bill Anderson and I co-facilitated the workshop again this year. The participants’ evaluations indicate that they now have a clearer understanding of the history of Aboriginal people, the on-going issues and struggles that are faced, and what unions can do to work toward becoming allies with Aboriginal workers and communities.

Working together will be needed as dramatic changes are taking place in our core industries and a generation gap exists in our workforce. A large percentage of our workers and leaders will retire in the next ten to15 years. We can build strength through diversity, integrity and respect, which in turn will build power within our union.

I had the opportunity to attend the UFCW Constituency Groups Summit in Chicago, Illinois from April 23 to 25, 2007. The theme of the summit was “Creating Growth in a Diverse Community.” Delegates from across Canada and the United States attended the summit. We were divided into eight groups and attended workshops that focused on equipping UFCW to deal more effectively with diversity issues in organizing, bargaining and leadership development. This summit was a reminder that all groups of minority people, no matter where you live and work, face similar struggles with misunderstandings and gaining acceptance. The keys to overcoming these barriers and challenges are education, understanding and inclusiveness. As a union, UFCW needs to continue to work at uniting Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal workers in Saskatchewan. Our future as a union depends on ensuring that people no longer work in cultures that isolate.

I also had the opportunity to listen to many dynamic speakers throughout the conference. Senator Barack Obama, the United States Senator for Illinois, brought greetings to our summit. Senator Obama is a 2008 Presidential Candidate and the only African American in the race to be the next United States President. He spoke to us about diversity and what we must do as a union to be inclusive of all workers. Reverend Jesse Jackson, a civil rights activist and leader, was another speaker who discussed what UFCW needs to do as a union to succeed in promoting inclusiveness, and therefore succeed in moving forward as a union.

“If you come to help me you are wasting your time. But if you come because your liberation is bound with mine, then let us work together.”
- Aboriginal activists group, Queensland, 1970s

Spring, 2007

“Our vision is to break through barriers by educating all workers and continue to learn together about Aboriginal awareness and bring forth understanding and solidarity.”

On March 10, 2007, the Aboriginal Committee, together with the Women’s Committee, hosted a luncheon at the UFCW Training Centre (pictured below, top - more pictures on the Women's Committee page). We collected children’s toys, pajamas, toiletries and baby items to be donated to the Saskatoon Crisis Nursery. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their generous donations.

A steak night was held at Uncle Barley’s on March 31, 2007. The Aboriginal Committee and Women’s Committee worked together to organize this successful night (pictured below, middle and bottom - more pictures on the Women's Committee page). All proceeds from tickets sold on a basket donated by Pat Ferris and Shirley Crouse of Western Grocers and from a 50/50 draw contributed to a very successful night for fundraising for leukemia research.

Reaching out to our labour and community groups is very important to our committee. Developing Aboriginal awareness is necessary if hiring practices, day to day work practices, programs and services offered are to reflect the changing demographics of our province. UFCW recognizes this importance and works to provide education for all their members. Local 1400 will be holding the popular Unionism on Turtle Island course from May 28 to June 1 this year. Turtle Island is also one of the courses offered this year at both Spring School and Prairie School for Union Women. Local 1400 sends a limited number of delegates to these schools. If you are interested in attending, please submit a written request as per the postings for the schools.

The SFL Aboriginal Committee, along with the other four SFL Equity Committees, is planning an Equity Conference in November 2007. Each of the five Equity Committees will be responsible for designing a three-hour workshop. Our committee plans on presenting a workshop on Turtle Island. More details on this conference will follow.

Winter, 2006/2007

December 31, 2006, marks the end of the first year of our UFCW Local 1400 Aboriginal Committee.

Throughout the year our committee has worked together to achieve our goals and objectives. We have also collaborated with the Women’s Committee in union activities. This year we plan to continue to work with the Women’s Committee and also work with the Youth Committee in hosting events to raise money for leukemia research.

According to the 2001 census, 13.5% of Saskatchewan’s people are Aboriginal and the median age of Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan is 20.1 years. Aboriginal people represent a significant potential workforce available to replace non-Aboriginal workers who will be retiring in the near future.

One of our committee’s objectives is to promote anti-racism through education in the union and workplace. The comments that came back from the participants who took the course “Unionism on Turtle Island” were all very positive. Training that is truly effective must be ongoing. UFCW Local 1400 is committed to provide this training to our members. There are plans to hold another course in April 2007.

For more on the Unionism on Turtle Island course, please see the Education and Training Report Page.

2006 Aboriginal Committee Reports

Fall, 2006

UFCW Local 1400’s second Shop Steward conference was held at Cedar Lodge at Blackstrap on September 22, 23 and 24, 2006.

The Aboriginal Committee worked together with the Women’s Committee in providing Friday’s social evening for the participants.

A skit presented by both committees portrayed the achievements of five famous Canadian women and two Canadian Aboriginal women. We also worked together in fundraising for leukemia by selling smokies Friday night.

On Saturday, our guest presenter, Lyndon Linklater, from the Speaker’s Bureau at the Office of the Treaty Commissioner, provided insight into the importance of treaties and why they must still be honoured today.

One of the courses presented was Introduction to Turtle Island. Lucy Figueiredo and myself facilitated the course, which covered an introduction to treaties, myths and misconceptions and the history of Aboriginal people. The full version of this course was previously presented in March 2006 and plans are in the works for another five day course to be held in 2007.

If you are interested in helping with the vision of the Aboriginal Committee, please contact the Saskatoon office at 306.384.5787 or (from outside of Saskatoon) 1.800.274.4036 or by email to ufcw@ufcw1400.ca.

 

Summer, 2006

I had the opportunity to attend the UFCW Canada National Women’s Conference that was held in Toronto June 21 to 23, 2006. I was part of a panel presentation on the Friday of the conference entitled Reflections and Actions. The theme of my presentation was The Needs of Aboriginal Women. Aboriginal women traditionally played a central role within the family and were honoured for their wisdom and vision. My presentation included the effects of violence and abuse on Aboriginal women in today’s society. The need for health care, affordable child care and education are the most pressing for Aboriginal women. For solidarity and positive change to be achieved, it is necessary that organized labour and Aboriginal peoples work together towards common goals.

I also had the opportunity to attend two workshops at the conference, Violence in the Workplace and I Can Balance Work and Life. The speakers at the convention plenary sessions were very knowledgeable individuals and I have come home with a new understanding of the concept of solidarity.

At the All Committees Meeting on July 6, 2006, the Aboriginal Committee met as a group to review our vision and mandate and discussed how we can work together as a group with the other committees to achieve our goals and objectives. We also discussed how the committees could work together for a fundraiser and planned the roles of the committees at the Shop Steward’s Conference in September.

April, 2006

UFCW Aboriginal Committee met as a group on February 9, 2006. We also met with representatives from the Women’s Committee, Youth Committee, and Leukemia Fund Raising Committee.

A facilitator was brought in to help the committees set goals and discuss future ideas.

The Aboriginal Committee established a Vision Statement: “Our vision is to break through barriers by educating all workers and continue to learn together about Aboriginal Awareness and bring forth understanding and solidarity.”

As a committee we plan to do this through our mandate and objectives.  Our mandate is to deal with racism and work to ensure the emotional, mental and physical well being of Indian and Métis members. Our objective is promoting anti-racism education. This can be achieved with the support of the union and through courses such as Unionism on Turtle Island being offered as union education.

In order for our committee to achieve success we need more members.  If you are of Aboriginal ancestry, have awareness and understanding of Aboriginal issues, or would like to learn about these issues and help with our committee’s vision, please contact the Saskatoon office at 384-5787 or toll free 1-800-274-4036. The Aboriginal Committee would like to have representation from different sectors of UFCW and from different areas of the province, both urban and rural.

For more on the Unionism on Turtle Island course, please see the Education and Training Report Page.