2012
FEBRUARY
voice
The Members’
Update from your Executive
Let the bargaining begin.....
2
by Paul Faoro, President
L
ast month in my President’s Message I said “bargaining” should be the word to describe 2012 given our union will be negotiating seventeen new collective agreements this year for our membership. In a few days we will be starting one of the first sets as CUPE 15 and the City of Vancouver will be commencing negotiations for renewed collective agreements with the City of Vancouver, Parks Board, RayCam and Britannia contract groups. Over 2400 members Paul Faoro, President are covered by one of these agreements. Over the past several weeks we had discussions with senior representatives from the City on how best to conduct negotiations in a productive and effective manner for both parties. We have
agreed to an intense weekly meeting schedule that will run over 5 weeks. I am pleased that we will be negotiating directly with representatives from the City of Vancouver completely free from any interference from the outdated and regressive Metro Vancouver Labour Bureau. Our bargaining team has spent the last several months preparing for these important negotiations and is ready to put forward proposals that will improve the working conditions for our members as well provide solutions to help strengthen public services and programs in Vancouver. We are starting negotiations with the City of Vancouver just as they have been named a top BC employer for 2012 for the fourth consecutive year in an annual competition run by Mediacorp Canada Inc. In a City press release on the award Mayor Gregor Robertson said “the City is very fortunate to have such a dedicated and talented workforce serving our citizens and businesses of Vancouver every day”. We will be reminding the City representatives of this every chance we get at the bargaining table.
Collective bargaining lies at the very heart of what unions do. It’s not easy at any time. Going into bargaining with the City’s preliminary operating budget showing a $52 million shortfall makes our job even tougher. But as I said previously we have solutions to improve our collective agreements and to assist the City with their budget situation. They certainly won’t include cutting programs and services like a few self serving business groups will be calling for. CUPE 15 will use every resource we have to protect and strengthen the excellent public services and programming that is an integral part of making Vancouver one of the best cities in the world to live and work. This will be done at the bargaining table and at the City’s budget meetings. CUPE members living in Vancouver should complete the City’s budget survey at www.talkvancouver.com. It’s your chance to say no to cuts.
Follow me on twitter @paulfaoro
CUPE National Convention highlights
I
would like to acknowledge that February is Black History Month before I move on to an overdue recap of the CUPE National Convention which was held the first week of November at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Black History Month will be covered more in depth in this month’s Stewards’ mailing which will have already been delivered to worksites all over the local by the time you read this. Leanne Toderian Secretary Treasurer Summarizing one
week of Convention is somewhat of a daunting task. Convention and the working groups are in full swing for the entire week, including evenings and lunch hour sessions. As with all conventions, delegates from across the country debate and discuss issues from their workplaces, sectors, and communities. Perhaps the best document that captures the essence of the work conducted at convention is the CUPE Strategic Directions 2011-2013 document. In this document, referred to as the “Blueprint for the Future”, it talks about the primary objective: “to develop our internal strength with a sensible, smart strategy for making gains in bargaining, for participating effectively in the public debate on services that CUPE members provide, and for making our communities better places to live”. The opening paragraphs speak of the assault on the public sector and the working class. “Those who promote austerity programs place the responsibility for deficits on the backs of workers rather than on capitalist financiers who
were responsible for market failures. A variety of economic and social policies are being wielded by the corporate and governing class as weapons against workers’ solidarity.” “Governments are painting public sector workers as part of the privileged class and are moving to strip these so-called privileges from us.” It goes on to address strategic priorities:
Strategic Priority 1a: Reaching CUPE Members “Strengthening CUPE locals and all aspects of CUPE’s structure are essential if we are to meet the challenges that face us in the next two years and the ability to reach our members directly is critical to the success. A National union has the responsibility to accept a major leadership role in the struggles of their members and must have the tools required to ensure that this leadership and strategic guidance can be delivered to the benefit of the members.” It goes on to lay out strategies, such as communications courses, social networking and skills development to assist locals across the country in this effort to better communicate with our members and communities our members work and live in.
Strategic Priority 1b: Strengthening the Labour Movement: Speaks to building a broad social movement with shared values. “This means the labour movement and social justice organizations are to maintain and increase influence in the implementation of progressive reforms and in advocating for rights in the workplace and in communities.” This goal
WWW.CUPE15.ORG
includes something referred to in this document as organizing “wall-to-wall” and “following our work” after it is contracted out or privatized are important principles in our plan. We will join forces with the “House of Labour”; respond to changing demographics; organize low income and marginalized workers such as personal support workers and child care workers.
Strategic Priority 2: Reaching out to the Community “By virtue of the public services we provide we already have a strong bond with the communities within which we work and live.” CUPE National and BC have a strong commitment to getting involved in and promoting communities around the country. This priority speaks of how we can individually and as a local get involved in the wide variety of community associations, not for profit groups and federations which share our goals for a more inclusive, healthy and productive society. CUPE will assist in developing a database of organizations in community associations and coalitions. Not to be forgotten are the political parties that support public sector work and workers, locally, provincially and federally. “Political action remains an important aspect of our work in communities. Our work paid off at the federal level with the election of 103 NDP members to the House of Commons. The focus will continue in 2012-2013 on electoral politics and will increase our lobbying efforts and actions on issues of concern to CUPE and our communities.” The document in whole can be obtained on the CUPE National website at www.cupe.ca. If you have any questions or are interested in some of the goals set out in the document, please contact myself of our President Paul Faoro at the union office.
CUPE Local 15, Vancouver Municipal Education and Community Workers