AMAPCEO's Anti-Racism Action Plan

AMAPCEO’s Anti-Racism Plan is intended to identify what members and volunteers can do, and what AMAPCEO can do to support them, as we all work towards becoming anti-racism champions.

AMAPCEO has been championing equity and inclusiveness for years. Some of the work is visible to all members, but much of it is done behind the scenes. Equity has been a cornerstone of AMAPCEO since the union’s inception.

Before achieving status as a bargaining agent in 1995, AMAPCEO appointed a central committee of members focused on advising the Board of Directors on equity matters, originally called the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Committee. This committee was reorganized as the Diversity Committee, and is now the AMAPCEO Equity Committee.

In September 2021, the Board of Directors approved the Equity Committee recommendation to develop an Anti-Racism Plan for the union with the following objectives:

• to define AMAPCEO’s anti-racism stance and anti-racism goals; and
• to educate and engage more members in anti-racism activism and in other volunteer roles.

At the Annual Delegates’ Conference (ADC) in December 2021, Delegates approved a resolution by the Black Caucus to develop an anti-racism plan for AMAPCEO.

The Board of Directors decided that engaging a third-party anti-racism expert was a good first step towards gaining an understanding of the scope of issues to be addressed in the development of an Anti Racism Plan in a union context.

In the spring of 2022, a Request for Proposal (RFP) process was launched to procure expertise in the development of an Anti-Racism Plan. The successful vendor, ROCK Diversity, was hired in May 2022.

The focus of the work assigned to the anti-racism expert, ROCK Diversity, leveraged their key strengths: deep knowledge and experience to analyze racism, and stakeholder consultation and focus groups.

The work by the expert included member surveys, focus groups, and workshops with the Equity Committee and the Board of Directors.

Rock Diversity’s report to the Board of Directors, which included suggested activities and tactics, has formed the basis for the development of the plan by Board’s Anti-Racism, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Working Group.

In April 2023, the Board put in place an Anti-Racism, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Working Group who were tasked with reviewing the report prepared by ROCK Diversity and preparing a three-year anti-racism action plan. The Action Plan is based on the suggested tactics and activities from the vendor’s report.

The Working Group looked at ROCK Diversity’s suggestions that target everyday practices, obstacles, and ways of thinking that exclude and become oppressive to those considered ‘different’ because of characteristics such as:

• gender;
• race;
• the way they think;
• their family status;
• culture; or
• sexual orientation.

As part of its work, the working group consulted with the Equity Committee and Board of Directors.

After receiving feedback on the draft action plan from both the Equity Committee and the Board of Directors, the final Anti-Racism Action Plan was approved as presented by the Board of Directors on October 5, 2023.

We also have efforts underway that will enable us to better identify and address racism, such as anti-Black racism, in the workplace in a more systematic fashion.

The first step was to develop an anti-racism plan with specific actions and/or deliverables. The Board approved the Plan developed by the Anti-Racism, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Working Group at its October 5, 2023 meeting. The Chief Operating Officer (COO), and other assigned AMAPCEO staff, will work with AMAPCEO’s leadership to:

• Develop a schedule to implement the actions identified within the Action Plan.
• Allocate resources (human and financial) for implementation of the actions identified.
• Continue to report back through the monthly COO’s Report, and at the annual Board Strategic Planning sessions, on the achievement of the Action Plan.

The AMAPCEO Board of Directors is ultimately responsible and accountable to the members for reporting on progress. That said, we are all responsible for demonstrating anti-racist behaviours and working towards becoming anti-racism champions. Read the Action Plan to find out more about what every member and volunteer can do to become an anti-racism champion.

AMAPCEO is developing a communications plan to support the roll out of the actions of the plan which will include annual reporting to the Delegates at the ADC, and to all members through the Board’s annual report, and will regularly update this page.

The Action Plan will be reviewed annually by the Board of Directors in conjunction with our annual review of the strategic plan priorities and actions. AMAPCEO will continue to examine and improve our internal structures, policies, procedures, and practices to ensure that the principles of equity, anti-racism and anti-oppression are firmly embedded in our union.

AMAPCEO has been championing equity and inclusiveness for years. Some of the work is visible to all members, but much of it is done behind the scenes. While there is a great deal more to be done, these early steps have had a positive impact. The expert consulting firm, ROCK Diversity, acknowledged this work as important foundations supporting anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion. See Appendix B of AMAPCEO’s Anti-Racism Action Plan for a detailed description of AMAPEO’s efforts to date to achieve our anti-racism vision.

AMAPCEO’s Senior Management Team, in consultation with the Executive/Personal Committee, will prepare a three-year operational anti-racism plan for the organization. The Action plan will be informed by the suggested tactics and activities from the vendor’s report. As part of its work, the Senior Management Team will consult with AMAPCEO employees and their bargaining agent.