Labour Day, 2009
While this Labour Day is a time for serious reflection, it is also
a time to celebrate all that Canadian working people have accomplished.
In the aftermath of one of the worst financial crises since the Great Depression, many workers have lost their jobs. Others have been forced to fight for pensions and benefits they believed were secure.
Today, we are proud of those women and men who have stood strong against employers who have tried to use the recession as ground cover to roll back the wages and benefits that working Canadians have worked for years to attain.
Full statement: http://cupe.ca/npo/labour-day-2009
OCHU reaches landmark agreement with OHA
The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions has reached a landmark agreement with the Ontario Hospital Association.
The agreement lets a worker transferred in healthcare restructuring, privatization, or
a sale of business to bid on jobs in their hospital with full seniority.
The agreement features wage increases of 2% each year, and vacation, benefit, shift and weekend premiums.
Resolutions online for 2009 Convention
Search by topic, by submitter or resolution number, the 41 constitutional amendments and 365 resolutions submitted to the 2009 CUPE National Convention.
For more information about convention, see www.cupe.ca/convention. Questions related to your registration, accommodation or delegate status can be emailed to convention@cupe.ca
BC budget ignores ambulance issue
This week’s provincial budget ignored BC’s deteriorating ambulance service, John Strohmaier said.
The president of CUPE 873 - on strike since April 1 - called the budget “another missed opportunity,” adding, “the BC Liberals keep saying they won’t intervene, but their failure to intervene is what is keeping us from a fair settlement.”
Okanagan schools start the year off with layoffs
The BC education ministry’s last minute budget cuts have translated into 50 layoff notices in the Okanagan Skaha School District.
The province eliminated a $110 million annual program for maintaining facilities.
CUPE 523 President Zoe Magnus says responsibility for the funding cut lies with the provincial government but the school district needs to look at its own priorities.
CUPE is seeking to enforce Labour Code provisions which require employers to provide notice and develop transition plans in the event of layoffs.
NL substitute librarians belong in the union: labour board
Newfoundland and Labrador’s labour board has ruled that 135 substitute librarians in community libraries are members of CUPE 2329.
The local started an organizing campaign for the librarians in April 2008.
CUPE NL President Wayne Lucas says, “CUPE NL is very pleased to welcome our newest members into the CUPE family.”
Montréal “cols bleus” on 24-hour strike
Montréal’s blue collar workers, CUPE 301, held a 24-hour strike this week, while making sure that all essential services continued to be provided.
The local was protesting two years of negotiations which have failed to reach a settlement.
CUPE rocks for justice in Vancouver
CUPE helped rock Vancouver’s Strathcona Park recently as three locals, CUPE BC, CUPE Metro, and CUPE National sponsored “Justice Rocks”, a one-day social justice festival put on by Pivot Legal Society.
CUPE Locals 15, 391, and 1004 planned CUPE’s participation and staffed the booth along with CUPE BC’s Young Workers’ Task Force.
Trevor Davies, co-chair of the Young Workers’ Task Force says, “This was a great opportunity to engage the public and talk about the social and community projects that CUPE is involved in.”
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