Parksville The 277 members of CUPE Local 3570 voted 94% in favour of taking strike action should that action become necessary to conclude the current round of bargaining.
Sylvie Couture, Local 3570 President, said her members will be joining other CUPE locals, members of the CUPE K-12 sectoral bargaining committee who have already taken strike votes, in strike action beginning March 27 unless a settlement is reached in her local before that date.
“Members of my local are distressed at the degree of erosion we have seen in support staff in this community. Its clear that funds originally designated for support functions are moved by school districts, to other functions, after the province has approved the original designation. We conclude that the approach contributes to the erosion of jobs and services.” said Couture.
Gary Johnson, CUPE national servicing representative and bargaining co-ordinator for the K-12 Sectoral Bargaining Committee (SBC) indicated that the Parksville/Qualicum strike vote brings the total number of positive strike votes over thirty. “The need for co-operation among School districts, their bargaining agent, BCPSEA, the government and CUPE is intensifying. Unfortunately, BCPSEA and the School Districts are still playing dodge ball around the issue of who is responsible for what.” said Johnson.
Information:
Sylvie Couture, President CUPE Local 3570
(250) 248-4751 or
Gary Johnson, CUPE national representative
(604) 219-3703
Regular information updates regarding CUPE K-12 Sectoral Bargaining can be found at www.cupe.bc.ca/sbc