2025 Winnipeg Convention

The story of COPE SEPB is one of self-determination. It is a story of passion, a story of cooperation and teamwork, and a story of progress.

In June 2004, a group of determined leaders representing our Canadian union members from across the country spanning BC to Quebec, and everywhere in between, stormed the Convention office of the OPEIU in Florida and declared autonomy, giving rise to what we know as COPE SEPB today.

From that first major success, across the country our locals in all four regions have done the hard work of supporting our members, of raising workplace standards, and fighting for progressive change in our communities so that all workers and their families can benefit.

Our successes have been made possible because we have the solidarity of our members – tens of thousands of workers spread across the country. We have fought for our members at the bargaining table and, when needed, our members have mobilized and taken to the streets to stand up for their rights not only for themselves and their colleagues, but also for the labour movement and our communities across the country.

The COPE SEPB union is about trust and commitment. We broke away from the international union because they wanted control our destiny without giving us a voice. At COPE SEPB, building on our successes means having a voice and recognizing that each of our regions have expertise to know what they need to thrive.

Our national union’s structure exists to support growth and provide solidarity, while allowing all locals to retain their autonomy to make decisions as they see fit while ensuring that all voices have a place in our union. This is the story of our union, this is how we have succeeded, and this is how we will build on our success.

The inspiration behind our logo

“Building on our successes” is a wide-ranging theme that can be interpreted in many ways by different people. What we wanted to show with our Convention 2025 logo is how our national union has brought our four regions together in solidarity while empowering each region to be autonomous.

At first glance, our Convention logo will be very familiar to our members as the base is formed by our COPE SEPB logo. On closer examination, you will see the imprint of a herd of bison within our logo. This is both an homage to the province of Manitoba, our host for the 2025 Convention, and symbolize our members across the country moving together in unison and in solidarity with one another.

The red circle which the two sails in our logo points to has also been stylized and is significant for a couple of reasons. First, you will notice that is in four different parts representing the four regions of our union – British Columbia, the Prairies, Ontario, and Quebec. On closer inspection, you will notice that the shape of the lines resembles the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street in Winnipeg. This is not only another nod to our host city for Convention 2025 but one of the iconic locations of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.

In some of our other Convention branding elements, you will also spot a nod to the Canadian Human Rights Museum, an acknowledgement of the City of Winnipeg and our union’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.