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March 1, 2000, Nanaimo Marlene Crozier, President of CUPE Local 606, announced today that the Nanaimo local representing 800 school support workers will ask its membership for a mandate to take a strike should that action become necessary.

“This school board has been stifling real bargaining for months now,” said Crozier, “CUPE member are fed up with the lack of respect the board shows for the work they do and the services they provide. Parents of students could learn a great deal about the importance of job security by matching CUPE job security with the kinds of services that have been lost to students and parents in the last few years. The parallels are obvious. When hours are cut from CUPE jobs, services are also reduced. When layoffs occur, members are bumped from one job to the other. CUPE Local 606 wants some stability in the system.”

CUPE Local 606 is one of 47 locals who are part of the CUPE K-12 Sectoral Bargaining Committee (SBC). The major issues on the table for those locals are pay equity, job security, benefits and pensions.

Gary Johnson is CUPEs national representative and the co-ordinator for the SBC. Johnson says, “Neither Nanaimo nor any of the other BC school districts have the authority to resolve the major contract issues addressed by CUPE. The government and the BC Public School Employers Association (BCPSEA), the real bargaining agent for school districts, are needed to bring about positive resolutions to the current labour situation.”

Information:
Marlene Crozier, President, CUPE Local 606
(250) 616-7104
Gary Johnson, CUPE national representative
(604) 219-3703

Regular information updates regarding CUPE K-12 Sectoral Bargaining can be found at www.cupe.bc.ca/sbc

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