CUPE 2977 members send out a unity letter to Bethesda’s Board of Directors following the launch of a campaign website
Workers at Bethesda Community Services delivered a strong strike vote last week, with 97% of participants voting in favour of a strike if ongoing negotiations do not conclude with a fair contract. The social services workers, members of CUPE Local 2977, have been in negotiations for months, with numerous issues still unaddressed by their employer.
“We’re not demanding the world here. We simply want our health and safety needs to be addressed,” said Heather Dempster, president of CUPE 2977. “Single staff shifts are dangerous. Our mental health concerns are not being taken seriously at the bargaining table. Our pay is so low that a quarter of our members have second jobs. These crisis conditions cannot persist.”
In an effort to inform the public about the many struggles present at the workplace, Bethesda staff have launched a campaign website, BethesdaServices.ca.
Members of CUPE 2977 also delivered a unity letter signed by a majority of their members. The letter, addressed to the Board of Directors of Bethesda Community Services, urges the employer to get back to the table and negotiate in good faith, highlighting issues of health and safety, burnout, wages, and structural inequities borne of their current two-tiered agreement.
