CUPE stands for Canadian Union of Public Employees. It is Canadas largest union, with over 740,000 members across the country. CUPE represents workers in various sectors, including health care, emergency services, education, early learning and child care, municipalities, social services, libraries, utilities, transportation, and airlines. The union was formed in 1963 by merging the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) and the National Union of Public Service Employees (NUPSE) . CUPE is affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress and is its greatest financial contributor. The union has a decentralized structure, in which each local elects its own executive, sets its own dues structure, conducts its own bargaining and strike votes, and sends delegates to division and national conventions to form overarching policy.