The 2024 MoveUP Convention officially kicked off on Thursday, September 12 with our union’s new president Annette Toth delivering her inaugural speech.
President’s Address
In her speech, Annette talked about the roots of our union – with this being the 80th anniversary of MoveUP being officially certified, the 50th anniversary of successfully organizing the workers at ICBC, and the 20th anniversary of our national union, COPE SEPB – and the political force that our union has grown to become.
WATCH: President Annette Toth’s speech
She stressed the importance of our theme – Building Our Future Together – and talked about how together meant not just those within our union, but our entire community as well. In examining the events that have shaped our union and our communities, Annette examined how critical it has been in the past for our union and all our members to stand together to fight off against efforts to privatize our work, and how with a looming provincial election coming up the importance of needing to come together again to ensure we preserve our hard-fought rights by re-electing the BC NDP.
Annette also spoke about her key priorities over the three-year term, which is to bargain the best collective agreements that take care of our members, to build community, and to listen to every voice.
Keynote Speaker: Jared A. Walker
Jared A. Walker, an organizer, activist, writer, and communications professional, was the featured keynote speaker. Jared, a board member with the Broadbent Institute, has had an extensive history working with political campaigns including being the Director of Digital Communications and Speechwriting for the Leader and Caucus for the Ontario NDP, Speechwriter to the Leader, Parliamentary Leader and Caucus of Canada’s NDP, and Communications Director on Jagmeet Singh’s NDP leadership campaign.
WATCH: Jared Walker’s keynote address
Jared spoke to delegates about the importance of conventions such as ours to inspire people to action, calling action the cure for dread. He shared stories of his upbringing as an immigrant to Canada and how it was union members in different industries like public transit and credit unions that helped his family navigate through challenging times.
He closed out by encouraging delegates to continue to share their stories and do the work of finding people who still need help.
Greetings from Louella Vincent, President of the New Westminster & District Labour Council
Louella Vincent addressed delegates to kick off the afternoon of Convention, providing well wishes for everyone. She also gave a special shout out to former MoveUP President/Secretary-Treasurer Lori Mayhew, congratulating her on her retirement and her past service as president of the New Westminster & District Labour Council.
Finance Report from Secretary-Treasurer Brenda Chu
MoveUP’s newly-elected Secretary-Treasurer, Brenda Chu, spoke about the importance of safeguarding members’ money, but also about how it is important to make prudent investments. That doesn’t just mean investments in stocks or properties but in our union education, job stewards, office staff, outreach, member engagement, political action, and organizing new members.
WATCH: Secretary-Treasurer Brenda Chu’s speech
She spoke about how past campaigns that MoveUP has run, including the likes of the Take Back the Power campaign or the Driving Public campaign, have been essential to protecting our members’ jobs and how it taught her that when our union workers together and fights for a common goal, we can bring people together.
Greetings from Lily Chang, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress
Lily Chang talked how the labour movement has experienced significant growth because people were being fed up with the status quo and demanding more. She pointed to the victories that the CLC and workers have seen, thanks in part to the confidence-and-supply deal between the NDP and the Liberals (which recently ended), that saw dental care, the Sustainable Jobs Act, anti-scab legislation, and pharmacare as major gains for workers and their families.
WATCH: Lily Chang’s greetings at Convention
Lily further went on to talk about the importance of supporting the work of the BC NDP and making sure they’re re-elected so they can continue to make life more affordable for people, noting that the only thing the BC United/BC Conservatives were interested in was defeating the BC NDP, not delivering for people.
On the federal level, she mentioned how Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre talks a good game, but his track record of anti-worker initiatives defined who he was.
She encouraged delegates to text WORKERS to 55255 to sign up for the CLC campaign.
Resolutions of note
On the first day of Convention, MoveUP delegates passed resolutions to:
- Make all reasonable efforts to afford educational opportunities to equity priority groups, including but not limited to youth (R-3);
- Remove language from our collective agreements that allows employers to require medical documentation for short-term sick leave (R-2);
- Call on the BC government to incorporate all necessary healthcare, including vision, dental, psychological, gender-affirming, and all other benefits found in extended healthcare plans offered by ICBC, WorkSafeBC, and other major health benefit carriers, into MSP (R-7);
- Call on the BC government to create a public option for home insurance, renter’s insurance, strata insurance, and other major types of insurance (R-8);
- All resolutions in the HR section except for HR-3 (which was referred back to committee);
- CB-8 (Secretary-Treasurer and President Vacancies, CB-9 (Standing Committees), and CB-5 (removing references to the Petty Cash Fund).
