PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – CUPE city workers vowed last night to take on city council over a contentious plan to downsize public services…and public sector jobs.
“We are concerned that city council has endorsed a plan, called the ‘Service Delivery Strategy’, without fully realizing what it will do to our community,” said CUPE Local 399 president Kevin McConnachie.
“We respect the work that city council does,” CUPE Local 1048 president Lana Keim added. “But we are worried that this recent decision will weaken our city services. It has the potential to devastate Prince George.”
CUPE plans to lobby city councilors to point out problems with the new plan. They will cite a recent University of Northern B.C. survey showing that there is high public satisfaction with public services.
“Privatizing and contracting out will mean the loss of control over the quality of service,” McConnachie said. “Private companies make decisions based on profit, not on public interest.”
“Council’s decision to downsize is a bad one because it will make Prince George a worse place for people to raise families,” Keim said. “It will also hurt small businesses.”
CUPE will mount a campaign to show that public services and jobs are critical to building and keeping Prince George a strong and vital place to live. It will call for public support to persuade city council to reverse its decision to downsize.
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Contact:
Kevin McConnachie, 250-961-1196;
Lana Keim, 250-561-7656.