Women's conference to target Harper roll backs

Highlights include comedian Mary Walsh and 'March of Aprons' to Parliament Hill

OTTAWA, June 19, 2013 /CNW/ - About 300 trade unionists from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union will gather at the Delta Hotel in Ottawa from Thursday, June 20, to Saturday, June 22, to share experiences and strategize on how to protect and advance the rights of women in the workplace, the home and the community.

"From the time they were elected in 2006, the Harper Conservatives have made women's lives more difficult and more dangerous by systematically attacking women's rights," says CEP National Women's Committee Chair Jennifer Britton. "It's a long list of roll backs -- from cuts to childcare funding, to Status of Women office closures, to the elimination of the gun registry, and more."

Conference delegates will hear from MPs Megan Leslie and Rosane Dore Lefebvre, and from other keynote speakers on Aboriginal issues, reproductive rights, and childcare.

Comedian Mary Walsh (This Hour has 22 Minutes) will address the conference on Saturday at 9 am and set the tone for a "March of Aprons" to Parliament Hill.

"The Harper Government's policies are taking women back to the 'barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen' days," adds Britton. "We are going to show Harper and the Conservatives just what that looks like on Saturday.  Delegates are planning to make their point in a very visual way…"

This will be CEP's 10^th and final women's conference before the union joins forces with the Canadian Auto Workers union this September. The new union, Unifor, will represent more than 80,000 women in several key sectors of the national economy.

The conference theme is: A feminist's recipe for democracy. "It's a recipe we intend to take with us to Unifor," says Britton, "which will be an important voice for women in Canada."

SOURCE: COMMUNICATIONS, ENERGY AND PAPERWORKERS UNION OF CANADA

Jen Britton at [phone] (cell); Michelle Walsh, CEP Communications Director [phone], ext. 222; 613 858-9144; [email protected] or Gisele Pageau, Human Rights Director [phone]