WELCOME TO COPE LOCAL 527
The Canadian Office and Professional Employees UNION (COPE), represents
approximately 34,000 members across Canada in both the public and
private sector. COPE Local 527 is a chartered UNION under the Canadian
Labour Congress and is affiliated with the Ontario Federation of Labour
and Hamilton and District Labour Council.
COPE Local 527 represents
over 600 Educational Assistants, Child and Youth Care Practitioners,
Communication Disorders Assistants, Language Aquisition Support Worker, Deaf/Blind Intervenor and Child Minder. Our members support the
developmental, social, emotional, physical and educational needs of
children with special needs. Our members work at Elementary and Secondary schools throughout
the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.
WHAT IS A UNION?
What are the benefits of a UNION
A UNION is an organization of employees, who share concerns about their rights, benefits and working conditions. A UNION’s basic purpose is to protect its members economic security through collective bargaining with employers. The rights of individual employees are limited in the absence of a UNION.
Becoming a member of a UNION provides employees with a legally enforceable contract. All collective agreements contain grievance procedures to handle disputes and ensure all members are treated fair.
Increased membership in a UNION strengthens COPE’s ability to negotiate for their members and assists the UNION in protecting employees from arbitrary decisions that change employment arrangement.
Job Security
Fair Wages and Benefits
Health & Safety
in the Workplace
Pay Equity
Hours of Work
Employment Equity
Fair Wages and Benefits
Land Acknowledgement
I want to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered today on the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee, and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This land is governed by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum, a treaty that reminds us of our collective responsibility to care for and share this land in peace.
As I offer this acknowledgment, I want to move beyond words and into reflection. I think about the connections between Indigenous epistemologies—ways of knowing, being, and doing—and those rooted in the African diaspora. Both are knowledge systems born of deep relationship to land, community, spirit, and story. Both have endured centuries of erasure, marginalization, and systemic violence, including through our education systems.
Today, in this space, I am reminded that when we speak about reconciliation, equity, and justice, it cannot be siloed work. The struggles of Black, Indigenous, and other racialized communities are intertwined. Our resistance is intertwined. And so too is our healing.
In education, this means we must challenge the dominant colonial frameworks that define what is seen as legitimate knowledge, success, or excellence. It means embracing Indigenous and Africana ways of knowing, being, and doing—not as add-ons or footnotes—but as living, breathing practices that have always offered us paths to liberation, belonging, and wholeness.
It means asking hard questions of ourselves, our systems, and our schools: Whose knowledge is prioritized? Whose voices are centered? And how can we build educational spaces where Indigenous, Black, and racialized youth see themselves not just reflected, but leading?
This land acknowledgment is not just about the past—it is about the present and the future. It is an invitation to walk together, to learn from one another, and to commit to action that honors both the land and the people who have stewarded it—and those of us who have been displaced from our lands and are finding ways to root ourselves in this one.
Thank you.
Dejehan “Luckystickz” Hamilton
Canadian Office and Professional Employees UNION Local 527
Unit 234 – 845 Upper James Street
Hamilton Ontario
L9A 3A3
905-387-9843