Thanks to our membership, and other Union locals that have, and continue to donate and support the Hardship Fund!

With the Strike now over, and 3 pay periods available in November, the Hardship Committee will stop taking Loan applications after Nov. 30th, 2007.

In Solidarity,

The Hardship Committee

Vancouver’s Advisory Bodies
Volunteers Needed
The City of Vancouver is seeking volunteers from the general public for positions on the following advisory bodies.  The application deadline is for the following advisory bodies is 5 p.m. on Monday , November 12, 2007:

• Chinatown Historic Area Planning Committee - applications for member-at-large and Chinatown property owners categories only


• Family Court/Youth Justice System


• Fire and Recue Services Citizens’ Advisory Committee


• Gastown Historic Area planning Committee - community resident owner category only


• Public Art Committee - applications for developer category only


• Vancouver Athletic Commission


• Vancouver Public Library Board

The application deadline for the following advisory board is 5 p.m. on Thursday, January 31, 2008:

• Vancouver Heritage Foundation Board

All appointments will be made by City Council.  Detailed descriptions of advisory bodies, including terms of reference, eligibility requirements, time commitments, application forms and instruction are available at the following website: vancouver.ca/volunteer

Printed copies are available from:

Vancouver City Hall, City Clerk’s Department
453 West 12th Avenue, Third Floor, Vancouver, BC V5Y 1V4
MONDAY TO FRIDAY, 8.30 am - 5 pm

You must the application form to apply.  An optional information will take place in council Chamber on the following date: Tuesday November , 2007 at 60pm.

Information: Nicole Ludwig 604-871-6399
fas 604-873-7419

Your application /resume will be made available to Vancouver City Council, civic staff and the appliable civic agency for the sole purpose of making appoinments to civic agencies.  Your information is collected under the authority of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and any applicable bylaws.

CUPE 391 members will be able to pick up their last strike pay cheques on Friday November 2, 2007, in the Peter Kaye room Central Branch.

Strike Cheque Pickup

• Date: November 2, 2007


• Time: 9.30 a.m. - 6.30 p.m


• Where: Peter Kaye, Central Branch

• You may be eligible for a further two days strike pay based on your strike attendance.


• Members must sign for cheques in person; there will be no proxy status allowed

Cheques will be available at the Union office, 545 West 10th Avenue, the following Monday.  Please call in advance, 604-322-4879, if you wish to pick up your cheque after Friday, November 2, 2207.  Ask your Union Contact if you have any further questions at your work location.
in solidarity

Alex

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Hello CUPE 391

Your Job Action Committee will be performing their last payroll duties from today (Oct.25) to November 2, 2007.  Information regarding deposition of cheques will be forthcoming next week. Please send your job actions records and any sign in sheets to the Union office via internal mail immediately.  We need to receive these today; Monday morning at the very latest

in solidarity

Alex

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The brave and beautiful Vancouver Public Library workers return to public service at all VPL locations Wednesday, October 24th.  We have been in the branches sorting materials and filling the shelves since Monday so that the people of Vancouver may have their libraries back. 

Words cannot express the gratitude, awe and love we feel for our library patrons who wrote letters, made phone calls and visited the picket lines with food, expressed their concern and offered words of encouragement.  Thank you, Vancouver.  Thank you, all our friends in solidarity and for social justice.

Taking job action was not an easy decision for Vancouver Public Library workers to make.  This is our first strike in our 77 years as a bargaining unit.  We went out for a principle: equal pay for work of equal value and in the process, to end gender discrimination.

Well, we didn’t win the fight, but we didn’t lose.  We won something much richer and more lasting.  We built a foundation for our struggle and will be identified forever with some of the most interesting and creative approaches to establishing participatory adult education activities around the subject of pay equity.  Coalition-building has occurred with other female-dominated work forces, workshops are being designed, and a tangible pride and solidarity is shared amongst our members and friends. 

CUPE 391 members genuinely love public service.  There were tears shed on the picket line and more than a few sleepless nights as we wrestled with the dichotomy of fighting for a principle and denying our selves and the residents of Vancouver access to their public space.  In the end we decided we needed to engage again in public service and that there are other venues for the fight for equal pay for work of equal value beyond the bargaining table.

Barry O’Neil, president of CUPE BC writes in today’s Vancouver Sun, “What is at stake is the well-being of the public and of a community, and that is far more important than anyone’s ego or political ambitions.” CUPE 391 went out for a principle and we are going back to work for a principle.  We deserve pay equity and we love public service.  These two conditions are not mutually exclusive.

Vancouver Public Library workers will not be engaging in discussions regarding recent job action.  But if you should ask us about pay equity, we suggest visiting Social Science on Level 3 and Business on Level 4.  Some useful subject headings:
. Pay equity
. Equal pay for equal work
. Women—employment
. Discrimination in employment - Canada
. Pay equity—law and legislation—Canada
. Pay equity—law and legislation—Canada—provinces
. Job evaluation
. Canada—social conditions
. Sex discrimination in employment
. Labour laws and legislation—British Columbia

At your service, as always, CUPE 391, Vancouver Public Library Workers