CUPE members across British Columbia continue to express their anger at the savage attack on their jobs, rights and public services by the Campbell government.
The Hospital Employees’ Union organized province-wide lunch hour protests February 7. The HEU had planned a province-wide job action, but the BC Labour Board declared it illegal. But the union has made it clear, it does not intend to back off in its fight to protect public health care and restore members’ collective agreements.
“This is shaping up as a real David and Goliath fight between tens of thousands of health care workers – mostly women – and a premier who relies on ‘legislative vandalism’ to strip working people of basic rights and communities of critical health care services,” says HEU spokesperson Chris Allnutt.
Promising continued action, Allnutt says “HEU members are known for their creative approaches to dealing with issues in the workplace. Try as the Premier might, our voices can’t and won’t be silenced.”
Meanwhile, across the province, workers joined with community allies to deliver a message to MLAs’ offices: Stop tearing apart our communities.
“The citizens of BC see a government that is out of control and they are calling for accountability,” says CUPE BC president Barry O’Neill.
“Cuts to services that people depend on are hurting communities, large and small,” he says. “CUPE members are joining others in the community to say this is not what we want, this is not what we voted for, don’t do it.”