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CUPE Saskatchewan has asked the boards of governors at both the University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan to review the performance of their chief negotiator Greg Trew of Claymore Consulting.

We’re concerned that Mr. Trew is not operating in the best interests of the university community or the broader public,” says CUPE Saskatchewan President Tom Graham.

At issue is Mr. Trew’s involvement with a Saskatoon business association that issued a news release last week urging the University of Saskatchewan not to soften its position on performance reviews – one of the key issues in the contract dispute with CUPE 1975.

The North Saskatoon Business Association and the Greater Saskatoon and District Chamber of Commerce stated in the joint release on November 6 that the University of Saskatchewan should “remain committed to including performance based-evaluations” as a condition of annual wage increments.

CUPE Saskatchewan criticized the business groups’ interference, stating their lobbying efforts were not helpful to resolving the strike by 2,400 support workers at the two universities.

The union has since learned that Greg Trew is a director of the North Saskatoon Business Association.

He’s also “the outside consultant” hired by the University of Saskatchewan to lead bargaining talks with CUPE 1975.

Now that we know Mr. Trew’s involvement with the North Saskatoon Business Association, we have even more concerns about the association’s involvement in this dispute,” said Graham.

We want to know whose interests Mr. Trew is representing at the bargaining table – our public universities or his business lobby group.”

The union sent a letter to both boards of governors yesterday, asking them to investigate this matter.

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For more information contact: Tom Graham at 229-8171
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