February 29, 2000, Kamloops - Bargaining between Kamloops support workers, CUPE Local 3500, and negotiators for District 73 broke off on Thursday, February 24, 2000 when the district rejected CUPE’s proposals for settlement.
Larry Bancroft, President of Local 3500 said, “This school board does not have the authority to make decisions about key issues for our members.”
Said Bancroft, “Job security, and benefits are not only important to the livelihood of our members, they make a tremendous difference to the kind of services we can provide to Kamloops students, their parents and teachers. Unless the provincial government is going to restore the authority to make decisions to the school board, they should call all the parties to the table and get this bargaining to a place where we can reach an agreement.”
CUPE Local 3500 Kamloops is one of 47 CUPE locals who are members of the CUPE K-12 Sectoral Bargaining Committee (SBC).
Gary Johnson, CUPE national servicing representative and bargaining co-ordinator for the K-12 sector said, “The strike vote schedule for Kamloops continues the pattern of what is happening all over the province. Neither school district negotiators nor the boards themselves have the authority to resolve issues that are key to these locals. All levels of employers must start to take seriously the messages being delivered to them from front-line workers.”
Information:
Larry Bancroft, President, CUPE Local 3500
(250) 376-1618
Gary Johnson, CUPE national representative
(250) 219-3703
Regular information updates regarding CUPE K-12 Sectoral Bargaining can be found at www.cupe.bc.ca/sbc