2.
Provide leadership in obtaining the support of the Canadian Labour Congress and its affiliates to have the federal government to rebate all GST paid by all publicly-funded school boards throughout Canada.
2.
Lobby the Canadian Labour Congress to increase pressure on the federal government to return a portion of the GST paid by individual communities.
BECAUSE: BECAUSE: • Municipalities are GST exempt; and • Citizens in municipalities pay GST on most goods and services; and • Municipalities deserve to utilize a portion of GST paid by their communities to provide services to their citizens; and • Municipalities need an ongoing stream of taxpayers to provide revenue other than property taxes to fund stable services to citizens in their municipalities.
• School boards pay GST on almost everything they buy pencils, paper, computers and software, telephones for the offices, heat for the buildings, renovations, etc; and • Each month school boards claim a 68% GST rebate, but that means that they still pay 32%, and that adds up to almost $200 million annually paid by school boards in Canada to the federal government, instead of being used to improve our children’s education; and • Municipal governments receive a 100% rebate on GST and prisons built by the federal or provincial governments are GST exempt, but the federal government still collects GST on school construction.
NEB decision - CONCURRENCE AS AMENDED Amend as follows:
NEB decision - CONCURRENCE – COVERS RESOLUTION 163
Add the words “citizens of” after the word “by” in both paragraphs 1 and 2.
Resolution No. 163 Submitted by Local 3550 (Alta.)
Resolution No. 165 Submitted by Locals 3350, 3758, 5436 (Que.)
CUPE NATIONAL WILL: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that CUPE adopt a policy against harassment and release the necessary resources in order to introduce the new policy. The objective of this policy will be to counteract and/or deal with situations of harassment involving a CUPE employee, an elected officer or a member of CUPE;
Lobby the federal government to exempt public school boards from GST payment. BECAUSE: • Public school boards are funded by the public purse; and • Paying GST on expenditures paid for with provincial tax dollars amounts to double taxation and a "claw back" of the funding needed by some of the most vulnerable members of our society.
• This policy shall provide that a person independent from CUPE shall act as an ombudsperson who can make an investigation, propose mediation and make recommendations to the bodies he/she considers appropriate; BECAUSE CUPE promotes effective mechanisms to prevent harassment and manage complaints among employers; and
NEB decision - COVERED BY RESOLUTION 162
BECAUSE there is no such mechanism within CUPE; and
Resolution No. 164 Submitted by Local 3550 (Alta.)
BECAUSE intimidation and harassment can be present even within our union structures and because we are not exempt from such incidents within these structures any more than we are in our workplaces.
CUPE NATIONAL WILL: 1.
Lobby the federal government to return a portion of the GST paid by individual communities; and
NEB decision - MOTION TO NOT PROCEED WITH
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