Last year, Council introduced a pilot project that handed maintenance of 16 pools to volunteer community groups. Council had originally proposed that all pools and arenas be turned over to local community organizations. Over 5,000 people signed CUPE cards opposing these measures, forcing Council to scale back its plans to 16 pools.
One municipal election and a new mayor and council later, city employees, members of CUPE 500, are once again at work on all 96 of Winnipegs pools.
The pilot plan was a failure. What was supposed to save the city thousands of dollars ended up costing thousands of extra dollars.
Only one of the volunteer groups was willing to take on maintenance again this year. All the centres supported municipal employees taking over the tasks.
This is yet another example of why public works best, said Local 500 president Paul Moist. Community groups dont want the responsibility for delivering this service. They know city employees have the resources and the time to do it best, he said.
CUPE worked hard in the last municipal election to elect a mayor and council that supported public delivery of public services.
CUPE knew this wasnt a money-saving venture. It was an ideologically-driven scheme. Once again weve busted the myth that private service delivery works.