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Montra006c, Thursday, April 24, 2003 – Discussions between the administration of the Universit 0064e Montra006c (UdeM) and its support staff, affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE-FTQ), will begin again at 9 a.m. tomorrow (Friday). Bargaining has been at a standstill for the past three weeks. The parties are returning to the table following the specific request of the conciliator appointed by the ministr0065 du Travail to help reconcile the parties in this dispute.

It should be noted that Pierre Dupuis, CUPE’s director for Qub0065c, will be joining the Union bargaining team. Commencing in October and until very recently, he led the bargaining team for the Union in the Vido0074ron file. His presence at the UdeM table brings the support staff in the labour dispute new hope that a settlement may be achieved very soon.

The 2,000 support employees at the UdeM, 80% of whom are women, have been on strike for almost two months. Male-female pay equity is at the core of the differences between the employer and his employees.

Commission de l’q0075it 0073alariale Intercedes
The Commission de l’q0075it 0073alariale interceded with the employer and union last week, “in order to untangle this impasse and correct pay equity related to gender in this institution.” In a letter sent on April 15, Rosette Ct002c President of the Commission, asked the UdeM administration and the union to “come to an agreement by May 16, 2003 on a remedial measure [that would be] acceptable to both parties.”

In the same letter, she noted that, “the remedial measure proposed by the employer [] is not viable in view of the impracticability of such a measure [] due to the existing working conditions and the refusal of the employees’ Union [] to agree to its application.”

Strikers to Demonstrate at Noon Today
Even though the university session is nearing its end, the pickets and public demonstrations held by union members continue, not only around the university campus but also in various locations throughout the City.

At 1 p.m. today, the strikers will be gathering in front of the CBC building on Ren-004cv0065sque Boulevard. They will be joined by some 75 bicyclists, also striking employees at UdeM, who will be setting out from the University campus a little earlier.

Early tomorrow morning, the support employees will meet in downtown Montra006c again to distribute thousands of leaflets informing the public of the issues in the UdeM labour dispute.

Local 1244 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees represents some 2,000 support employees at UdeM, 80% of whom are women, in addition to some 15,000 members in the education sector, 8000 of whom work for Qub0065c universities, mainly as support personnel. CUPE is also active in several other sectors of activity including communications, municipalities, health and social services, hydroelectricity, provincial corporations and public organizations, and urban and air transport. With close to 100,000 members in Qub0065c, CUPE is the largest FTQ affiliate.

This press release and other information are posted on the Internet at scfp.qc.ca

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SOURCE: CANADIAN UNION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES (FTQ)