Nurses Week 2023: Join Us in Celebrating Our Nursing Teams!

tjohnston Health Care

When the going gets tough, healthcare workers don’t quit. 

They show up. 

They keep us and our communities running.

Healthcare workers like licensed practical nurses and personal care attendants make sure that our families are always able to get the quality care that they need.

For National Nursing Week, join us in thanking all the dedicated healthcare workers across our province.

National Nursing Week is from May 8th to 14th this year. The celebrations take place during the same week as Florence Nightingale’s birthday, on May 12th, each year.

A print ad will appear in the Telegram‘s Nursing Week spot on March 9th in addition to digital ads (see above) on Saltwire newspaper websites across the province throughout the week. A radio ad will also run on stations province-wide. Listen to the radio ad below.

Registration Open: Join Us at Our Atlantic Week Long School!

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This June, join us for a weeklong school to develop and improve the skills you need to better your local. Courses will include sections on leadership skills, member mobilization techniques, labour history, and the basics of stewarding. For more information, check out our brochure.

A scholarship is available for those who want to attend but cannot afford the cost. The CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador Scholarship will award $1200.00 to locals who wish to send a member. Check out the PDF linked below for more information regarding eligibility and how to apply for this scholarship.

CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador Scholarship

Want to register? Submit this form by mail or online by May 19th, 2023.

Global People Power: Building Worker Solidarity in a Global Economy

tjohnston Education, Uncategorized, Workshop

You’re invited!

Join us for our Global People Power workshop on April 5th at 6:30 p.m. AST.

This workshop focuses on explaining capitalism’s role in workers’ lives and examines the links between local and global issues.

\We will explore how building solidarity with workers in other countries strengthens the labour movement in Canada and worldwide.

Register by April 1st: https://cupe.ca/mrm-union-education/event/6213

Newfoundland and Labrador 2023 Budget Ignores Essential Health Care Workers

tjohnston News Release

(St. John’s) – It is clear that the province is no longer in an economic crisis with the government’s release of its revised figures from 2022-23 of an additional $1.5 billion in revenue last fiscal year. However, the 2023-24 budget released today reinvests none of this revenue into public sector workers, leaving workers in Health Care, Libraries, Housing, Transition and Group Homes, and Education to have their income further eroded by high inflation.

A personal care assistant who earned $46,293 in April 2020 would have to be earning $51,461 in January 2023 just to keep up with inflation. Instead, the government’s plan would have that PCA earning $47,218. “Why does the government expect people to work for less each year? A PCA is making $4,242 less in 2023 than they did in 2020 due to inflation,” said CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador president Sherry Hillier. “This is why we have a retention issue. Who would work for less each year?”

“This budget promised $23 million to Health Care workers, but none will go to essential workers who are responsible for cooking, cleaning, and changing and caring for residents. These people are leaving the sector because they can’t make ends meet,” said Hillier. “Recruitment initiatives are great, but they don’t mean anything if we aren’t paying people what they’re worth.”

“We’ve been campaigning for increased spending in public housing for years. Today, the government promised to invest $17 million to repair and renovate vacant units,” said Hillier, “but we need to talk about retention again. The reality is that they can’t fill the positions needed for these improvements because they’re not paying their workers a competitive wage. If they want this initiative to work, they need to start paying public sector workers competitively.”

“We are pleased to see the promise to release a new wage grid for ECEs [Early Childhood Educators]. For years, they’ve been expected to do more with less, and investing $64 million is a good start. They are essential for our children’s early education,” said Hillier, “and it’s time we start paying them with that in mind. I’m hopeful that this new grid will properly reflect the work they do without capping their wages.”

For more information, contact:

Sherry Hillier
President, CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador
(709) 765-2996

Taylor Johnston
CUPE Atlantic Communications
(902) 536-4922

SAVE THE DATE: Atlantic Weeklong – June 25 – 30th

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This year’s Atlantic Weeklong will take place from June 25 – 30th at The Wilds Resort in Holyrood, Newfoundland and Labrador. More details will be announced shortly!

This year's Atlantic Weeklong will take place from June 25 - 30th at The Wilds Resort in Holyrood, Newfoundland and Labrador. More details will be announced shortly!

This year’s Atlantic Weeklong will take place from June 25 – 30th at The Wilds Resort in Holyrood, Newfoundland and Labrador. More details will be announced shortly!

 

CUPE is looking for facilitators!

tjohnston Advertisement, Education, Job Posting

Member facilitators are a vital part of CUPE’s education program, providing a wide variety of workshops to members across Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and at times, across the country.

Are you someone who:

  • has experience in their local – on the Executive, as a steward on a committee or as an activist?
  • is comfortable speaking in front of groups?
  • is pro-CUPE and represents CUPE’s values?
  • represents CUPE’s diversity – gender, racialized, Black, Indigenous, differently abled, 2SLGBTQI+, and young workers?
  • comes from different areas of the province and works in different sectors?
  • has time in their schedules to facilitate a few times a year, including on weekends and during the week?
  • has been a participant in a CUPE workshop?
  • is open to learning new things and new ways of doing things?

If that sounds like you, download the application here.

Members should send their applications to Michelle’s attention (mcohen@cupe.ca) and copy jscott@cupe.ca by March 06, 2023. The first member facilitator training session is taking place in Ottawa in May. Applications received after this date will be considered for future training sessions.

For more detailed information about this exciting program, see our CUPE National website.

CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador 49th Annual Convention

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CUPE NL invites all locals to join them at the Delta Hotel, St. John’s on May 1st-3rd, 2023 for their 49th annual convention.

Registration will be held on Sunday, April 30th at 4:00 p.m. at the Delta Hotel. Locals are requested to make their own reservations, but a block of rooms, named “CUPE,” will be held for delegates at a rate of $139.00 plus taxes per night.

To send delegates, locals must have their per capita to CUPE National and CUPE NL up to and including April 2023.

For more information, please see the full Convention Call available for download here.

Aerial view of Channel-Port aux Basques with the town name superimposed on photo

CUPE to make donation to hurricane relief efforts in Port aux Basques – Wednesday at 10 a.m.

creynolds Article

On behalf of the members of CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador, a donation of $20,000 will be made to the Salvation Army for hurricane relief efforts. The donation will be presented by CUPE NL President Sherry Hillier at an event to be held in Channel-Port aux Basques on Wednesday, November 16, 2022.

“Hurricane Fiona was devastating for our members in the Port aux Basques area and many other people in the community. Many have lost everything and it’s heartbreaking,” says Hillier. “We want to do what we can to help and hope that this donation will help this beautiful community get back on its feet.”

“CUPE locals across the province and our executive board gave generously to our ‘Fiona Solidarity Fund’ so that we can make this donation. It’s our way of giving back to a community that we love dearly and that has lost so much,” says Hillier.

LOCATION: 98 Main Street W., Channel-Port aux Basques

TIME: Wednesday, November 16, at 10 a.m.

SPEAKERS: Sherry Hillier, CUPE NL president; and David and Beverly Harvey, Salvation Army representatives

Across the province, CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador proudly represents more than 6,300 working women and men in 60 locals.The union represents workers in health care, education, public housing, provincial libraries, municipalities, university, child care, recycling, social services and much more.

Aerial view of Channel-Port aux Basques with the town name superimposed on photo

Photo: portauxbasques.ca

Aerial photo of downtown St. John's and the CUPE NL logo

City of St. John’s municipal workers ratify new collective agreement

creynolds Collective Bargaining

Members of the Canadian union of Public Employees (CUP) Local 1289 in St. John’s have voted in favour of ratifying a new four-year collective agreement at a meeting held Tuesday, October 11, 2022.

The new deal includes a wage increase of 11% over four years, a signing bonus, improved sick leave provisions for part-time workers, enhancements to bereavement leave, and guaranteed overtime for scheduled events.

“I’d like to thank our bargaining committee who worked hard on behalf of our members to reach this deal,” says CUPE 1289 President Erin Woodfine. “We look forward to continuing to partner with the City to provide quality community services to residents and businesses.”

CUPE 1289 approximately 380 inside municipal workers with the City of St. John’s.