In Canada, over 855 employees die from work-related incidents each year, averaging more than 2 deaths every day.
The National Day of Mourning, held annually on April 28, was officially recognized by the federal government in 1991, eight years after the day of remembrance was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress. The Day of Mourning has since been adopted by 80 countries around the world.
The Canadian flag on Parliament Hill will fly at half-mast.  We hope that the remembrance of those who have died because of unsafe working conditions will strengthen the mandates of employers and employees to establish safe conditions in the workplace for all. When we think of those dead workers, let us also plan safe workplace practices that will save lives.

Mike DePaoli, CUPE 391’s recording secretary, wrote a moving tribute in last summer’s Off the Shelf issue to those workers who have died in an unsafe workplaces.  Mike participated in last year’s Day of Mourning events in Vancouver.

http://www.cupe391.ca/OTS/2006/OTS_summer_06.pdf

The BC Federation of Labour is sponsoring an event in Surrey at:

Bear Creek Park

King George Highway and 88th Avenue

10 a.m.

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On April 26, 2007, CUPE 15 received 93.5% support for a a strike vote from their membership.  Over 50% of the membership voted - this is the an excellent result by any measure.

GVRD negotiators are proposing a wage freeze for some of the cities lowest paid inside workers, reductions in bargaining members rights, reductions to sick leave, vacation, banked time and more.  This in addition to demands for a 39 month contract, special managment rights to accommodate the Olympics and ongoing contracting out of bargaining unit work.

CUPE 454 (Delta) was recently forced into mediation at an unusally early date by their employer and the GVRD.  CUPE 454 had to immediately seek a strike vote from their members prior to entering mediation. An independant mediator will be brought in to manage this process.  If the mediator sees that the bargaining unit does not have a strike vote, he or she will interpret that as an indication that the union does not have the support of its membership.  Furthermore, the mediator will then think that the Employers demands/propsals have more weight and will rule accordingly.

When CUPE 454 received notice to proceed to mediation with the employer, this sent a big message to the other four large Lower Mainland locals. Municipal workers from CUPE 15 (Vancouver inside), 1004 (Vancouver outside) 23 (Burnaby), 454 (Delta), and North Vancouver District (389) have been bargaining with the GVRD and their respective employers and have made no meaningful progress.  These bargaining units do not want to find themselves called into mediation without a strike vote. This is why CUPE 15 got their strike vote mandate.

If your bargaining unit is given notice to go into mediation with the employer and there is not a strike vote, the mediator will not take union proposals seriously.  CUPE 15 saw the writing on the wall and has responded accordingly.  Let us see if CUPE 15 are asked to proceed to mediation.

How does this affect our local union? CUPE Local 391 has had far fewer meetings with the employer at this point. It is still too early to know how our negotiations are going to proceed. We have three more meetings planned for June, and at that time we should have a better understanding of where its heading. We will of course inform the membership after those meetings, with a complete update.

We should not be alarmed about any CUPE Local union in our region taking a strike vote. A strong mandate will enable any bargaining committee to apply maximum pressure on the the GVRD and the employer, and should result in the best possible outcome. Bargaining updates will be made available on this blog, and at upcoming General Meetings; plan on attending.

For further CUPE bargaining information, go to www.fairnessforcivicworkers.ca
- the website for the “Fairness for Civic Workers” campaign.

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Paul Whitney had a brief meeting with the Union today regarding the date of the Board Meeting for the Bindery decision. Members from the Bindery Committee may not make the May 16th date, so May 30th has been tentatively proposed. This date might also not work, so please do not make any plans to leave town soon: we need your support!

Please find alternative ways to express your very welcome support of the Bindery rather than through the all-staff e-mail. Management has discussed the very real possibility of Union no longer having access to this communications resource. This would be a blow to the sharing of members information in a timely manner and may cause a deeper chasm in Union Management relations. In an effort to continue to serve the membership effectively and to mend fences with Management, we are suggesting that you gird those collective wits and develop some creative (but workplace appropriate) ways to share information.
We thank members for actively voicing their partisanship for their colleagues in the Bindery. We are looking for ways to share our concern for this further evidence of a corporatisation of members work through attemts to outsource. Please talk it up in your work units (not during work time, of course) and prominently display any related literature. We will be sending copies of the report tommorrow, once it is proof-read.

CUPE has launched a Fairness for Civic Workers campaign and we, CUPE 391, are part of it. We are less than enchanted with the indifference to local issues displayed by the GVRD at the bargaining table. Visit the action website at www.fairnessforcivicworkers.ca
website and get informed.

On an absolutely happy and delightful note, CUPE 391 would like to offer their congratulations and express their joy in the upcoming nuptials of the one and only David Philip and Sloan Garrett. David and Sloan have been engaged for 17 years and are now very sure of a happy and prosperous future together. The memory of Gerard in that slinky gold dressing gown is now a gossamer thing of the past. Fortunately, I experienced a very solid clinch with David today and shall treasure that moment. All the best, from CUPE 391, kids. Don’t let the wedding festivities get in the way of coming out for the Annual General Meeting in the Alice MacKay at Central at 10 a.m. on Sunday April 29th. Come out and vote; come out and run for office.

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Please attend Annual General Meeting; everyone who can possibly make it

CUPE 391’s Annual Board Meeting

Alice MacKay Room

April 29, 2007

10 a.m.

The Annual General Meeting is not as just another general meeting, though they are all significant.  Labour has developed and refined trade unions for over 300 years to bring us to where are today.  The annual general meeting is primarily about the election of the new Executive, but it also encompasses the discussions of the reports of the committees and the business of the local.  CUPE 391 has begun the bargaining process with a well-trained and co-ordinated bargaining team with three meetings behind us, built a strong and effective classifications committee, problem-solved a number of local issues with management and challenged management on perceived violations of the Collective Agreement.

Proclaimed Candidates for Executive and other Positions
Vice-President: Laura Safarian

Members-at-Large (4) see below
Peter Degroot

Aili Meutzner

Aliza Nevarie

Inder Pannu

President: Alex Youngberg

Recording Secretary:  Mike DePaoli

1 Trustee (3 years) Gillian Doan

Steven Turner will continue as Secretary-Treasurer for another year

Ed Dickson will continue as Vice President for the 2nd year of his two year term

Board Meeting/Bindery Decision NOW May 16 (tentatively)

Management has agreed to move the decision on the Bindery’s future to May 16.  This will be confirmed soon.  The Union argued that we needed time to respond to Management’s report on the Bindery Committee report.  The Bindery Committtee report will probably be ready on Wednesday, April 25th.  We understand Management’s report will be ready the following week.

It is very important that staff come out to the Board meeting May 16th and support the Bindery.  The bindery is an integrel part of collection development and collection maintenance.  The work of closed divisions is curiously vulnerable to being contracted out.  Because the work is not visible does not make it less important.  Houses without support beams do not function; collections that are not cared for do not service the community as they should.

So, mark your calendars.  Two big events: Annual General Meeeting April 29th, 10 a.m. Alice MacKay and the Board Meeting re: the Bindery decision May 16th(so far)

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Greetings CUPE 391 members,

Yesterday, your Bargaining Committee met for a third time with the Employer and their GVRD Bargaining Representative. To help the Employer better understand our “Joint Agent of Record” proposal, the Union invited Dave Portious of Working Enterprises to attend the meeting and explain the concept of having a Joint Agent of Record to oversee our benefit plan. Currently, our Employer is the sole manager of our benefit package (except for the LTD plan, which the union administers).

At the end of the presentation, the Employer asked a few questions, but gave no indication of their interest in this particular proposal.

For the rest of the morning, the Union’s National Representative, Jim Gorman, further explained our position on several of our important issues, like improved language for P/T Aux workers, pay equity, and having a Joint Agent of Record to help manage our benefit plan.

In response to our last exchange of proposals, the Employer spent time going down their list of proposals, without significant change to any of their proposals.

Our next meeting with the employer for next Monday, April 16th, has been canceled by the Employer. However, we did manage to get a commitment from them for two more tentative bargaining dates in June, in addition to our next scheduled meeting on June 1st.

Regionally, several other locals are further along in negotiations. In Delta, CUPE Local 454’s talks are stalled, and their Employer is reluctant to discuss anything other than their own issues. Local 454 has now been forced to go to mediation at the Labour Relations Board and are gearing up to take a strike vote.

CUPE Local 389 (North Vancouver), CUPE Local 23 (Burnaby). CUPE Local 15 (Vancouver Inside Workers), and CUPE Local 1004 (Vancouver Outside Workers) are also having difficulty making any significant progress, and may also find themselves in the same boat as Local 454.

Further regional updates will be coming as we know more.

Remember to come out to the General Meetings for a regular Bargaining updates. Also, members can e-mail the bargaining committee with any questions at bargaining@vpl.ca or bargaining@cupe391.ca. On behalf of the Bargaining Committee, (Aliza Nevarie CIRC, Laura Safarian Level 6, Doug Klohn Systems, Marya Gadison Marketing, Alex Youngberg President. ) Ed Dickson Bargaining Chair & Vice President CUPE Local 391.