By Michael Hamilton, Local 376, inSolidarity Committee
Every year in January, the OPSEU/SEFPO equity committees and caucus meet at the annual Equity Gathering.
The gathering gives members from the various equity committees and caucus to collaborate with their fellow equity representatives to help develop constitutional amendments and resolutions which then will be brought to the OPSEU/SEFPO Convention. The gathering also offers the opportunity for the Equity Calls to Action to be further implemented within the OPSEU/SEFPO organization. The gathering also provides the opportunity for newly elected equity reps to connect and network with their fellow equity reps from the various committees and caucus.
On the first day, each of the equity committees and caucus meet with their own individual groups to go over their proposed constitutional amendments and resolutions. Many key debates happen during these meetings because often, some of the equity committees will reach out to the other committees and caucus if they know they have an amendment or resolution that they can collaborate on when presenting it to the group at large.
The second day consists of all of the equity groups and the caucus meeting together to go over some of the logistical items of the meeting.
The OPSEU/SEFPO Equity committees and caucus consist of:
- The Coalition of Racialized Workers (CoRW)
- The Rainbow Alliance Arc En Ciel (RAA)
- The Indigenous Circle
- The Provincial Human Rights Committee (PHRC)
- The Provincial Young Workers Committee (PYC)
- The Provincial Women’s Committee (PWC)
- The Provincial Francophone Committee
- The Disability Rights Caucus (DRC)
As one can imagine, the room is full of debate and how best the OPSEU/SEFPO Equity groups can achieve their goals of bringing more inclusivity to the union.
The gathering also allowed the equity groups to receive an update from the Blueprint organization who was enlisted to help OPSEU/SEFPO with delivering our latest Social Mapping Project data. Blueprint ensured everyone that they would be satisfied with the final results from the survey. After the presentation, we then were able to have a mock Convention. The group always strives to enact a mock Convention so everyone in attendance has an idea as to how the business of Convention is conducted. Everything from voting on amendments and resolutions, amending parts of the agenda, quorum, challenging the chair, Roberts rules of order and speaking at a FOR or a CON mic are demonstrated to the Equity reps in the room.
To wrap up on the final day, the Equity reps make a concerted effort to go over all of the amendments and resolutions that were submitted. There is also a conversation about reaching out to locals, area councils and executive board members to encourage them to support the various motions that will be presented to the delegation at Convention.
We leave knowing that the OPSEU/SEFPO Equity Reps have a clear focus on what the group would like to be presented and that the delegation at large will continue to support equity initiatives.