An Open Letter to CAPE Members from Membres Chez Nous

On May 22, 2026, a valid petition to call a special general meeting on the new mandatory meeting-for-voting policy was submitted to CAPE’s national office. Membres Chez Nous supported this initiative and hoped CAPE would act in good faith by holding the meeting before voting began. It did not.

There will now be no discussion of this new restriction on union democracy. CAPE’s Constitution (A.32.2) requires at least 10 working days’ notice for an SGM. By sitting on the petition for now 19 calendar days, CAPE has made it impossible to hold this debate before the notice to bargain is submitted. A meaningful discussion on the disenfranchisement of thousands of members has been avoided—ironically, by a president who claims to support a “member-driven, open bargaining process.”

This raises a simple question: why limit participation in the union’s democratic process?

The answer: Nate wants a strike, and he’s not willing to risk the membership voting against him, because as past votes have shown, when all 27,000 members have a say, CAPE’s silent majority shows up and rejects his vision:

• 58% denounced his misuse of contingency funds;
• 76% rejected his dues increase proposal;
• 81% supported placing guardrails on member resolutions;
• 84% directed CAPE to focus its efforts solely on workplace issues, not on unrelated political debates.

On February 27, 2026, the NEC adopted the bylaw governing this open bargaining process.

The governing bylaw (B.7.12.2) is clear: “Prior to sending the notice to bargain, the members of the bargaining group shall vote electronically on the applicable impasse resolution process…” There are no mentions of mandatory meetings or any other conditions attached. What part of “the members of the bargaining group shall vote” do our leaders not understand?

A few days later, we completed the bargaining survey. Since Nate still refuses to share its results, we can only assume that the silent majority again spoke up, and that his bargaining priorities are out of step with those of rank-and-file members. So as a means to engineer the vote’s outcome, he unilaterally created this new regime that deprives thousands of members of their democratic right.

To be very clear, Membres Chez Nous supports information sessions, and believes that all members should have access to factual and unbiased information. However, we oppose any measure that restricts participation in a democratic vote. For us, solidarity is not the national office creating accommodation measures; it’s not having measures that need accommodating in the first place.

CAPE members are fully capable of making informed decisions. While we refrain from endorsing one dispute resolution path over another, Membres Chez Nous encourages ALL CAPE members to think hard about the extent to which our current leadership is going in order to guarantee the outcome they want, and what other tactics they might employ as we move forward in this process.

MEMBRES CHEZ NOUS