Close to 100 Champions for Change from across the country gathered in Ottawa earlier this month to discuss a new campaign being launched by the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) called All Together Now!

“Governments are saying that the recession and deficits mean they’re going to have to make some tough financial decisions,” says James Clancy, NUPGE national president. “We’re concerned about the impact of those decisions on public services and the workers who deliver them.”

At the June 2010 NUPGE convention, delegates unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the union to organize a campaign to:

- Defend public employees.
- Promote the value of public services.
- Fight for tax fairness.

“The campaign is called All Together Now because we reject the old, failed vision that whatever challenges we face as a nation, the best way to solve them is for people to fend for themselves,” says Clancy. “We believe instead that we’re all in this together and we need a collaborative approach to meeting the challenges we face.”

The campaign strategy is to reach out and engage NUPGE members in promoting public services and fighting for tax fairness. The tactics for the campaign are primarily word-of-mouth, relying on member-to-member conversations and presentations.

A key element of the campaign was the Champions for Change conference (which was held from Sept. 29 to Oct 1). The 100 activists in attendance learned how to deliver a member-to-member conversation / presentation about public services and tax fairness.

“These 100 members are our Champions for Change because they reject the status quo position of governments who say there’s no alternative to cutting public services,” says Clancy. “Our Champions for Change know there’s an alternative and it's called tax fairness.”

MGEU Champions for Change

Area 1 - Donna Janzen
Area 2 - Caren Zimmerman
Area 3 - Kim Fallis
Area 4 - Ed Miller
Area 5 - Tina Hay
Area 6 - Melissa Dvorak
Area 7 - Brent Bayluk
Area 8 - Jeanette Kimball