Moist and Généreux thank delegates for a memorable convention
CUPE’s national officers sent a note this week thanking 2,500 delegates and staff for making the union’s 24th national convention a memorable one. They noted:
• Almost 40% of the over 2,000 delegates were at their first national convention.
• Delegates adopted almost 100 resolutions – a record for CUPE.
• Delegates spent five hours debating and approving the union’s strategic directions document.
For more convention highlights, see:
http://cupe.ca/npo/national-officers-thank-delegates
Supreme Court upholds the right to demonstrate
The Supreme Court of Canada last week refused to hear appeals from citizens demanding compensation for inconvenience suffered during a demonstration by Montreal blue-collar workers in September 2003.
Initially, the Superior Court had ordered the blue-collar workers to pay a fine of $25 to $35 to 435 people; but subsequently, the Court of Appeal had concluded that the right to travel by car without suffering undue delay does not fall under the Charter of Rights.
The president of the Montreal blue-collar workers’ union (CUPE 301), Michel Parent, welcomed the news. “This court decision enshrines our right to demonstrate,” he said.
Report finds disturbing growth in city management
Regina recorded significant growth over the last eight years, but a new report released today shows the growth is most pronounced in one area: management positions at City Hall.
The CUPE Research report, Top Heavy: How many managers does it take to run a city?, finds the number of management positions at City Hall nearly doubled over the last seven years, from 60 positions in 2001 to 112 in 2008 – an increase of 86.7%.
The new top heavy structure at City Hall is costing taxpayers dearly without any improvement in city services, the report states.
The report is available (in English only) here:
http://cupe.ca/municipalities/report-disturbing-growth-city
Toronto Public Library workers give CUPE a strike mandate
CUPE 4948 members at Toronto Public Library have given their negotiators an 86% strike mandate.
“We want to maintain the kind of high quality community-based public library services our patrons have come to expect, and at the same time ensure that all library workers have good jobs”, said Maureen O’Reilly, CUPE 4948 spokesperson.
Almost 50% of the workforce is part-time with fewer benefits. It takes a library worker on average five to six years to get a full-time job at the Toronto Public Library.
The union has three conciliation dates left.
Visit http://www.peoplemakelibrarieswork.ca/ (English only).
BC government to let seniors homes opt out of provincial collective agreement
The BC government is preparing to let publicly funded, but independently operated, care homes opt out of a provincially negotiated collective agreement that sets out a common standard for wages and working conditions for nearly 40,000 health care workers.
The Hospital Employees’ Union says the private nursing home operators who’ve been pushing for the change are looking to increase profits by squeezing wages and benefits and undermining working conditions.
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