VANCOUVER - All members of Vancouver’s City Council have a public role to play during a civic dispute. Some have chosen to remain silent, others have had a lot to say. Take a look at some key public statements (enclosed) made by all elected council representatives on the Vancouver civic strike and take a moment to let them know what you think. Contact information provided.
NPA
Mayor Sam Sullivan
July 23, 2007: CUPE members want a contract that expires before the Olympics “to shut the city down in the middle of the Games”.
July 23, 2007: “I will never [sign an] agreement that allows the city to be shut down while two billion people from around the world are watching Vancouver at its finest hour.”
July 24, 2007: On why dealing with other civic matters is a higher priority than dealing with the strike, “I’m getting on with the job of being the mayor.”
July 24, 2007: “I’m briefed on this four times a day.”
July 26, 2007: On something the union denies ever hearing at the bargaining table, “I had our negotiators float the idea of a five-year agreement several weeks ago.”
July 26, 2007: On the Richmond deal, “I think it offers a lot of hope for settlement at this time.”
E-mail: sam.sullivan@vancouver.ca Phone: 604-873-7621
Councillor Suzanne Anton
August 16, 2007: “It’s interesting that the non-NPA councillors…don’t support the mayor at all.”
August 11, 2007: On council reconvening to address while city workers are out on strike, “That’s really for individual councillors to decide. It is the one time of year when we can take a holiday, so it is hard to say to people they should come back from that.”
August 11, 2007: “We have professional teams of negotiators and someone will have to budge here.”
August 16, 2007: “The city has made it clear that they would like a settlement…and yet for some reason CUPE is not accepting that settlement.”
E-mail: clranton@vancouver.ca Phone: 604-873-7248
Councillor Elizabeth Ball, representative on the GVRD Labour Relations Bureau
August 6, 2007: “It’s unethical to talk during a media blackout. It doesn’t help the negotiations to do that.”
E-mail: clrball@vancouver.ca Phone: 604-873-7240
Councillor Kim Capri, alternate representative on the GVRD Labour Relations Bureau
July 18, 2007: Regarding her motion that city-run facilities switch to certified organic free-range eggs, “The quality of life of the animal who is a free-range animal versus a caged hen that suffers greatly is what is at dispute here. …It’s about animal suffering.”
August 6, 2007: On re-examining the City’s relationship with the GVRD’s Labour Relations Bureau, “That’s going to be a really important conversation to have after bargaining is completed.”
E-mail: clrcapri@vancouver.ca Phone: 604-873-7246
Councillor Peter Ladner
August 2, 2007: “In as much as we voted different ways…you’ll discover that the NPA agreed on the general intent on returning money [the city saves during the strike] to the taxpayers.”
E-mail: clrladner@vancouver.ca Phone: 604-873-7241
Councillor B.C. Lee
E-mail: clrlee@vancouver.ca Phone: 604-873-7249
VISION
Councillor George Chow
July 17, 2007: “I’m not advocating that people should use private [garbage] pick-up.”
July 27, 2007: “Councillor Ball needs to publicly push for rational bargaining and denounce the mayor’s unnecessary comments. When we called for the mayor to take leadership, we weren’t looking for him to declare war on civic workers.”
E-mail: clrchow@vancouver.ca Phone: 604-873-7245
Councillor Heather Deal
July 25, 2007: “It’s Sam’s Strike.”
August 6, 2007: On re-examining the city’s relationship with the GVRD’s Labour Relations Bureau, “We’ve seen a lot of cities settling by stepping out of the normal process. We need to review that process to see if it’s helped or hindered.”
August 10, 2007: On reconvening and briefing council, “As the mayor’s strike drags on, we need to reassess the city’s stance and make it clear to our bargaining team what we expect.”
August 10, 2007: On settlements by neighbouring municipalities that do not use the GVRD Labour Relations Bureau, “Cities that deal directly with their employees have settlements and we do not.”
E-mail: clrdeal@vancouver.ca Phone: 604-873-7242
Councillor Raymond Louie
July 30, 2007: “When we know the impacts of the strike are so large we cannot have parties entrenched in one position.”
July 30, 2007: On allegations that Mayor Sullivan tried to interfere with Richmond’s negotiations, “This is not surprising to me, though that the mayor would do this, rather than focusing at the bargaining table in Vancouver, he’s going out into other jurisdictions.”
August 2, 2007: On the GVRD’s Labour Relations Bureau after Burnaby reached a contract despite their presence at their table, “It’s obvious to me that the labour relations function today is not helping the situation.”
August 3, 2007: “I think the mayor should have stepped up to the plate much earlier on when he saw things progressing the way that they were.”
August 10, 2007: “Savings incurred during this labour dispute [should] be rebated to city taxpayers.”
August 16, 2007: “Clearly voters are unhappy with the strike and the mayor’s inability to solve this….I think the mayor just mismanaged this from the beginning. The mayor’s lack of knowledge on labour-relations work in the city of Vancouver and his lack of leadership ability have exacerbated the situation.”
E-mail: clrlouie@vancouver.ca Phone: 604-873-7243
Councillor Tim Stevenson
August 4, 2007: “The mayor has not been willing to negotiate and this is definitely Sam’s strike, and it will continue to be Sam’s strike and he’ll have to pay the price for that.”
August 6, 2007: “Sullivan started this strike with an ultimatum, and that’s caused really sour relationships.”
August 6, 2007: “It’s two words that make this strike different than others, which is ‘Sam Sullivan’.”
E-mail: clrstevenson@vancouver.ca Phone: 604-873-7247
COPE
Councillor David Cadman
July 25, 2007: “You don’t settle by not talking.”
July 25, 2007: “I think [the mayor’s] advisers have convinced him that being hard on the union is something that people want and accept, and I think they’re wrong. …He should have been involved immediately to try and avoid [the strike].”
E-mail: clrcadman@vancouver.ca Phone: 604-873-7244