By Alexander Delorme, Communications Staff
“We had a bear the other day! There are all kinds of aspects to this job – it's never the same day twice.”
Marion Popkin is an Occupational Health and Safety Officer at Northern Lakes College, making her a member of AUPE Local 071/009. Dealing with wildlife in northern Alberta is just one of her many duties, which also includes emergency response plans, risk assessments, and mental health support.
All members of AUPE Local 071 work at one of 12 colleges and three school boards across the province, where their jobs are critical for student learning experiences and, in Popkin’s case, safety and wellbeing.
But Popkin’s union activism has made her even more involved in education than you might think.
It’s a wonderful opportunity, and certainly a benefit of being an AUPE member, that some of the courses I could take from the union could be used for the degree.
Popkin is enrolled in Athabasca University’s Labour Studies program, the only one of its kind in Alberta. Students receive a Bachelor of Arts after completing the program, and Popkin got a head-start thanks to AUPE.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity, and certainly a benefit of being an AUPE member, that some of the courses I could take from the union could be used for the degree,” says Popkin.
AUPE offers several free education courses for members, all of which prepare us to stand up for public services and fight for good jobs and wages. Some courses count towards Athabasca University’s degree and certificate programs, while other courses count towards the Occupational Health and Safety certificate program at the University of Alberta.
Popkin’s dedication recently earned her the Rolf Nielsen Award in Labour Studies from Athabasca University. The annual award goes to the student who has completed the most Labour Studies courses with the highest academic average.
We need to be far more proactive, as workers, about getting those tools—and education is one of them—to understand how we fit into and can fix this bigger system.
Popkin says no one was more surprised than she was to receive the award.
“I’m sure a great deal of that award came from the AUPE courses I took,” she says. “They gave me a lot of background knowledge. The credits for those courses really accelerated my degree and helped with costs, too.”
According to Popkin, some of the course material – especially the dangerous working conditions that existed before unions and safety regulations, which some powerful politicians and business owners want to take us back to – is downright terrifying. She believes more members should take advantage of the same learning opportunities so that we can continue creating a better world for workers.
“I think labour needs to defend itself. We need to be far more proactive, as workers, about getting those tools—and education is one of them—to understand how we fit into and can fix this bigger system.”