March 17, 2023 – OTTAWA – The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) met with the Network of Asian Federal Employees (NAFE) to identify challenges faced by their members in the workplace and learn how CAPE can offer support.
Asian public sector employees continue to face racism, microaggressions and a lack of understanding of their culture – a situation which has worsened since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. These attitudes lead to discrimination, and often hinder their opportunities for career advancement.
The NAFE steering committee indicated that many Asian employees are unaware of the role of unions and the benefits they can provide. CAPE committed to doing more outreach – including an information session for members – to ensure the Association is seen as a resource for Asian federal employees, and other equity-deserving groups. NAFE encouraged CAPE to continue actively supporting anti-Asian racism, and to do more to connect with CAPE members who are part of the Asian community to boost their involvement with the union.
NAFE was launched in May 2021 in response to increasing anti-Asian racism and hate crimes, which saw a steep rise during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of the network is to provide Asian public sector employees and allies with a safe space and, working collaboratively with the Government of Canada, promote cultural awareness, sensitivity and build an open and supportive work environment.
Outreach to equity-deserving groups
The meeting with NAFE is part of a broader effort by CAPE to better understand the unique challenges faced by various equity-deserving groups in the federal public sector.
To fulfill that commitment, CAPE is reaching out to networks representing equity-deserving groups to discuss the specific barriers they have met.
Through these meetings, CAPE aims to:
- Learn more about members’ unique challenges in the federal workplace when it comes to matters of diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as discrimination and harassment.
- Explore ways to collaborate to spark members’ interest in union life, to improve representation at the local and national levels within these communities.
- Explore areas of collaboration for advocacy within the federal government.
CAPE has and will continue to meet with other employee networks, including the Jewish Public Servants’ Network, the Indigenous Federal Employees Network, the Muslim Federal Employees Network, the Federal Black Employee Caucus, the Network for Neurodivergent Public Servants, and the Public Service Pride Network, to learn about the challenges these communities also face within the public sector.
If you belong to another federal network representing a group of equity-deserving employees not listed above, please reach out to CAPE so that we can arrange a discussion with members of their executive team.
You may contact us at general@acep-cape.ca.
Meeting attendees:
Xiaotong Zhang NAFE steering committee member
Lizzie Cheng NAFE steering committee member
Justin Lai NAFE steering committee member
Jia Xin Sun NAFE steering committee member
Greg Phillips President, CAPE
Dina Epale Senior Advocacy and Public Affairs Advisor, CAPE
