Found at:
http://www.peoplesvoice.ca/articleprint/Lower_Mainland_Civic_Workers_gear_up_for_strikes.html
Lower
Mainland Civic Workers gear up for strikes
(The
following article is from
the July 1-31,
2007
issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles
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PV Vancouver
Bureau
About nine
thousand civic workers
in several BC Lower Mainland municipalities are gearing up for strike
action as soon as the beginning of July.
Since last
December, most of the
Lower Mainland's 12,000 civic workers (members of CUPE) have been
working without a contract. Across the region of two million people,
talks have stalled as GVRD bargainers refuse to make meaningful
progress, forcing CUPE civic workers to prepare for job action to
achieve a fair contract.
In Vancouver,
CUPE reports that
"the employer has aggressively attacked union wage and working
conditions with a proposed wage freeze for some of the lowest paid
workers, reduction of sick pay and vacations among other take-aways. In
Delta, the employer has refused to continue bargaining and instead is
forcing their civic workers into mediation. At other bargaining tables,
GVRD bargainers are pursuing reductions in a range of areas including
benefits, callout, sick leave and more."
Speaking to People's
Voice,
a spokesperson for CUPE 1004 (Vancouver outside workers) said that as
prices skyrocket, his members increasingly find it difficult to work
where they live. Fed up with years of minimal pay increases at best,
many are ready to look for better-paying jobs if they cannot win a
better contract.
Civic workers
here include a wide
range of occupations, from planners to plumbing and building
inspectors, water operators, pavers, cleaners, garbage collectors, and
rec centre, swimming pool and library workers. Their work is vital
heading towards the 2010 Winter Olympics, which is proving to be a gold
mine for developers, yet they are faced with demands for concessions.
On June 25, a
record 97 percent
of Vancouver's 790 library workers (CUPE 391) became the seventh group
to vote in favour of strike action.
"We are
dismayed," says Ed
Dickson, CUPE 391 Bargaining Committee Chair. "There is no
justification for the shameful demands the employer is making - demands
to establish lower wages, demands to cut our benefits and access to
sick leave. Vancouver's library workers deserve a fair contract. Not a
single library workers' issue has been addressed in the days of talks
that took place." The library workers are seeking to address pay equity
concerns, fair treatment of part time and auxiliary staff, benefit
improvements and protection against contracting out.
CUPE says
responsibility rests on
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan to seek a political solution to avert a
strike that could affect everything from Olympic construction to
tourism. Civic workers in Vancouver face some of the most regressive
take-away demands, like the demand to freeze the wages of 150 building
service workers until after the Olympics.
"Mayor
Sullivan holds the key,"
says Paul Faoro, President of CUPE 15, Vancouver inside workers. "All
Mayor Sullivan needs to do to avert a strike is to instruct bargainers
to stop demanding to take away worker rights, wages and benefits and
negotiate fair contracts with the public employees that make Vancouver
work."
A few days
earlier, Vancouver's
outside workers, including garbage workers who receive trash from
across the GVRD at the Vancouver Landfill, voted 96 percent in favour
of strike action.
"During hard
economic times, city
workers have sacrificed and taken zeros, but now it is time to honour
that sacrifice with fair contracts that improve workers lives - not
contracts that make it even more difficult for workers to take care of
their families and make ends meet," says CUPE BC President Barry
O'Neill. "Without fairness, there will be no labour peace in the Lower
Mainland this summer."
On June 13,
Burnaby's 2000 city
workers became the fifth group of civic workers to register a high
strike vote (93%) in response to proposed take-aways and stalled
negotiations with GVRD Labour Relations Bureau.
CUPE 23
President Rick Kotar said his frustrated members are prepared to take
action to achieve a fair contract.
"We had high
hopes for a positive
round of negotiations, but when we got to the table we found an
employer being led by the GVRD to take a hard line," said Kotar. He
points to a booming economy in a city that is reaping windfall tax
revenue from rapidly increasing property values as reason to hope for
smooth negotiations.
"Hopefully
this vote will let the
city know that we are serious about getting a fair deal... Before that
can happen, city council needs to stop listening to the GVRD, and start
negotiating with the people who make Burnaby work."
CUPE 23 has
been at the bargaining table since October 2006. They have not met with
the employer since March 2, 2007.
Other civic
groups which have
taken strike votes include Vancouver inside workers (CUPE 15), Delta
public employees (CUPE 454), North Vancouver District workers (CUPE
389) and North Vancouver Recreation Commission workers (CUPE 389).
For
information on how to help CUPE
members win fair contracts in this dispute, visit www.supportyourcivicworkers.ca.