WINNIPEG Delegates to the seventh annual Western Canadian Municipal Workers Conference are focusing their energies on privatization that not only threatens jobs but also undermines the quality of public services.
On the agenda for the conference is how to deal with the contracting-out and privatization that some governments are considering for municipal services. Over the next three days, they will hear from politicians and labour leaders who are dealing with the economic and political pressures that are changing the face of local government and services.
Municipal workers are facing many new pressures and this conference is a good way for us to deal with these changes, said Gary Andrew, Chair of the CUPE Manitoba Municipal Committee. The conference is important for us its a chance to learn from each other and think about how we can do our part to protect public services.
Over 100 delegates from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario are at the Conference. They represent workers in public utilities, libraries, police services and other municipal services offered across western Canada.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is Canadas largest union representing more than a half-million women and men. In Manitoba, CUPE represents 24,000 members working in health care facilities, school divisions, municipal services, social services, childcare centres, public utilities, libraries and family emergency services.
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For information, contact:
Greg Mandzuk, CUPE National Representative at 942-0343, ext. 297
Dennis Lewycky, CUPE Communications Representative at 942-0343, ext. 207 or on cell. at (204) 223-6805