Leo Cheverie wins international work prize
Former CUPE national executive board member Leo Cheverie has won the 2007 Alumni Award presented by World University Service of Canada (WUSC), a leading Canadian development agency.
A graduate and employee of the University of Prince Edward Island, Cheverie is president of CUPE 1870. The award recognizes his exceptional contribution to international development through his support of WUSC’s programming.
WUSC chair Dr. Alastair Summerlee added that “Cheverie’s dedication to WUSC over the past two decades has gone a long way towards raising our profile on campus and beyond, to the point where on campus, his name has become synonymous with our organization in Prince Edward Island”.
Cheverie is a library technician at UPEI’s Robertson Library.
CUPE 1975 strike hits week one
CUPE 1975 members ended their first full week on the picket line with a rally in Saskatoon, November 9.
More than 2,400 CUPE 1975 members at the University of Saskatchewan and University of Regina began a full-scale strike on November 2.
CUPE National President Paul Moist commended CUPE 1975 members for taking a stand against the employer and promised they would have the full support of the union – the largest in the country.
Moist urged the employer’s bargaining spokesperson, Barb Daigle, to do more than comment on the dispute. Noting she earns more than $169,000 a year, Moist said it was time that Daigle actually got to the bargaining table and helped to negotiate a fair contract settlement.
Meanwhile, 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.
Trew also sits on the board of 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 strike.
“We want to know whose interests Mr. Trew is representing at the bargaining table – our public universities or his business lobby group,” said CUPE Saskatchewan President Tom Graham.
Please email strike support messages to: mailbag@sasktel.net.
Paul Moist takes on Direct to Consumer Advertising of prescription drugs
Paul Moist spoke on the dangers of Direct to Consumer Advertising (DCTA) of prescription drugs to a Ryerson University audience this week.
Like most other countries, Canada prohibits direct-to-consumer-advertising of prescription drugs (DTCA). We do this as a health protection measure, to prevent inappropriate medicine use that could harm patients.
But rules on DTCA are being skirted and more recently outright challenged by corporate media. CUPE National is part of a coalition of organizations fighting to preserve and strengthen DTCA limits. We are also lobbying for a national drug plan that would be publicly funded and administered, control costs, provide universal access and ensure the safe and appropriate use of drugs.
Kingston hospital workers back CEO’s call for funding
CUPE 1974 has launched a media campaign backing their boss’s call for more funding for Kingston General Hospital.
Joe deMora, the hospital’s CEO, was criticized by the head of the South East Local Health Integration Network for questioning the province’s funding formula for hospitals during the recent election. Other officials suggested he might not keep his job if the Liberals were reelected.
“Our campaign,” said CUPE 1974 president Louis Rodrigues, “is a direct response to the approach we’ve seen here where the province is using the Liberal MPP and LHIN head as its agents to attempt to shutdown KGH’s advocacy efforts for adequate funding”.
The union is paying for TV and radio advertising to support its message and is supporting a town hall meeting organized by local health care activists and the Ontario Health Coalition.
CUPE urges end to violence on Transgender Day
CUPE is calling for an end to violence against transsexual and transgender persons on November 20, Transgender Day of Remembrance.
November 20 has been recognized for almost a decade as a day to remember those who have been murdered or are a victim of brutal violence because of anti-transgender hatred and violence. As many as one violent death a month has been documented.
Transsexual and transgender people are workers, trade unionists and a part of CUPE. We continue to fight for their equality rights – an injury to one is an injury to all.
Many communities hold vigils to mark the Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is important to publicly condemn the violence against, and to show solidarity with, transsexual and transgender communities.
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