CUPE Ontario endorses Avi Lewis for NDP leadership

Toronto--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CUPE Ontario has endorsed Avi Lewis as leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party.

The endorsement was approved Monday by the CUPE Ontario executive board, following a unanimous recommendation from the union’s political action committee.

CUPE Ontario is encouraging its members, and all workers in Ontario, to renew or sign up for membership in the NDP by Wednesday, Jan. 28, to be eligible to vote in the party’s leadership race this spring.

“CUPE Ontario members have long fought for the priorities Avi Lewis is putting forward,” said Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario. “That includes fair taxation, strong public ownership, decisive action on climate change, and real protections for workers in an economy that is increasingly unstable.”

CUPE Ontario said the Lewis campaign reflects long-standing demands from its members, including the implementation of a wealth tax, investment in renewable energy infrastructure to ensure a fair and just transition for workers, a clear and independent foreign policy, and decisive action on climate change through major investments in renewable energy infrastructure that would create hundreds of thousands of good, unionized green jobs and ensure a fair and just transition for workers.

The union said the NDP remains the only federal party founded by and for working people, and that Lewis’s leadership would strengthen the party’s grassroots organizing and year-round presence in communities across the country.

“With Avi Lewis as leader, we believe the NDP can deepen its connection with workers and communities, and build the broad coalition needed to deliver real change,” Hahn said.

CUPE Ontario also cited strong grassroots momentum behind the Lewis campaign, including high levels of new party memberships and significant support through small-dollar donations.

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