After a long week of conciliation meetings, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the City of Mount Pearl have reached a tentative agreement. The bargaining team for CUPE Local 2099, representing the City’s municipal workers, has agreed to present a tentative agreement to the membership for a vote.Read More
The following sponsored article appears in Saltwire newspapers across the province this week and next, including The Telegram and the West Coast Wire.
From health care workers to municipal staff, public sector workers are there when we need them most.
Labour Day is a time to be thankful for public services and the workers who provide them. Public services in Newfoundland and Labrador are indispensable — it’s hard to imagine how we could survive without them.
From the health care workers who care for our seniors and clean our hospitals, to the municipal workers who make sure our water is safe to drink, public sector workers are there when we need them most.
What would we do without the bus drivers that get our kids to school safely, or the hospital workers who take care of us when we are sick? Or without librarians to spread the love of books to young readers, and faculty to guide lifelong learning at our universities?
Unfortunately, in recent times public services in Newfoundland and Labrador have been under attack by our own provincial government.
Premier Andrew Furey’s “big reset” contains cuts to public sector workers and the critical services they provide. Instead of committing to universal, public health care, the Health Accord for Newfoundland and Labrador seems to be pointing towards the path of privatization.
Now Premier Furey is floating the idea of publicly funded, privately-operated health care services, after a meeting with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and other conservative premiers in the Atlantic Region.
CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador will not stand by and watch our public services get dismantled, and our health care sold off to the highest bidder. Privatization will not solve staffing issues when we are amid a recruitment and retention crisis.
The fundamental job of good government is delivering public services for all, and we will continue to push this government to do the right thing, like taking long-term care facilities out of the hands of private corporations.
We will continue to lobby for improved senior care — 4.1 hours of direct care per resident per day — to be enshrined in legislation.
We will defend workers’ rights, including the right to a decent pension, so that families will be cared for into retirement.
CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador will continue to fight for good jobs with better wages, safer workplaces, paid sick days, affordable housing, and accessible childcare and senior care. We will be there to fight for a higher minimum wage, improved income support and a stronger social safety net.
We will continue to push for a society where no one is left behind.
On behalf of our 6,300 CUPE members across the province, we wish you a safe and happy Labour Day.
Sherry Hillier
President, CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador
Listen to our Labour Day radio message! Playing until September 5 on stations across the province.
I’m Sherry Hillier, President of C U P E Newfoundland and Labrador.
On behalf of our members, I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Labour Day Weekend.
To our members and front line workers, thank you for continuing to deliver the quality public services we all depend on. CUPE will continue to fight for a province with good jobs, access to public health care and an economy that makes life more equal and more affordable for everyone.
CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador would like to wish you all a safe and happy Labour Day weekend.
This week, the four conservative Atlantic premiers, along with Ontario’s Premier Ford, announced their idea of bringing in privatization in healthcare, instead of dealing with the recruitment and retention crisis.
The premiers floated the idea of publicly funded but privately operated health care services. CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador, which represents more than 1400 healthcare workers in the province, is calling on Premier Furey to retract his statements and rule out privatization.
“One of the government’s fundamental jobs is delivering good public services for all. Handing over this responsibility to private corporations means he does not want to meet his basic job requirements as premier,” said Sherry Hillier, President of CUPE NL.
“Privatization will not solve staffing issues. It simply drains workers from the public sector to the private sector, moving people around instead of bringing more people in it. It is robbing Peter to pay Paul,” she added.
“In the U.S., where healthcare is completely privatized, they have massive staff shortages, so let’s not fall into that trap.”
Earlier this year, the American Hospital Association called the workforce shortage in U.S. hospitals a “national emergency.” In July 2022, U.S. News reported that staff shortages were “choking the U.S. health care system.”
“This government must focus on public solutions, like removing barriers to entry in the workforce, cutting tuition fees, stopping the casualization of the work and improving working conditions for all, in order to retain staff,” concluded Hillier.
September 25-29, 2022Are you interested in fostering bargaining and political power within your local? Do you want to learn what is at stake and what it takes to develop policies and legislation which strengthen the labour movement? Would you consider helping in campaigns or running for a provincial or federal seat? Do you want to develop an NDP that works better for workers?Read More
The members of CUPE 569, outside municipal workers at the City of St. John’s, voted to accept a new collective agreement Monday evening.
“Bargaining began on May 31 and this round of negotiations was successfully completed in two months,” said CUPE National Representative Debbie Turner. “Also, no concessions were brought forward by the employer.”
“Both sides were committed to reaching an agreement that’s fair for both workers and for the city,” said CUPE 569 President Gord Evans. “There were no wage increases in the previous agreement and so wages were a priority for our members this time around. We’re satisfied with the outcome of this round of bargaining, especially taking into consideration the high cost of living these days.”
The collective agreement includes wage increase of 11% over four years with a $1,000 signing bonus. This monetary increase is below forecasted inflation, which the Bank of Montreal estimates as 7.4% in 2022 and 5.0% in 2023. Other improvements to the collective agreement include language on bereavement leave, shift premiums, and training.
“Ratification of this deal is proof positive that a fair deal can be reached, respectfully and effectively, through the collective bargaining process,” said CUPE NL president Sherry Hillier. “Congratulations to everyone, on both sides, who worked hard to reach this deal.”
“Thank you to our bargaining committee and staff for their hard work, and thanks to our members for their support as we worked to negotiate this deal,” added Evans.
CUPE 569 represents approximately 400 outside municipal workers employed at the City of St. John’s who work in the parks department, fleet repair, sanitation, road maintenance, water and wastewater, traffic department, humane services, and property management.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 569 reached a tentative agreement today with the City of St. John’s. The union represents approximately 400 outside municipal workers.
No further details on the tentative agreement will be made public until it is ratified by the local’s membership. A ratification vote by union members is scheduled for Monday, August 1, 2022.
“I want to thank the bargaining committee for their hard work in reaching this deal. We’re pleased to recommend the agreement to our members,” says CUPE 569 President Gord Evans.
“Hopefully, this agreement will show city council in other municipalities that collective bargaining works and that workers deserve fairness and respect,” says CUPE NL President Sherry Hillier.
CUPE 569 represents outside municipal workers employed at the City of St. John’s who work in the parks department, fleet repair, sanitation, road maintenance, water and wastewater, traffic department, humane services, and property management.
The mayor and council’s unwillingness to treat municipal workers fairly is causing disruptions to the services we all rely on. The city’s failure to negotiate a fair contract has caused the reduction and/or shut down of programs, services, events, and facilities. CUPE 2099 workers keep Mount Pearl running, but city council seems determined to jeopardize it all.Please go to WeAremountPearl.ca and send a message to the mayor and councillors and ask them to negotiate a fair deal with city workers.
No one wants to be on strike, but the city refuses to bargain a fair collect agreement. After almost four months of trying to reach a deal with a difficult and unreasonable employer, the members of CUPE 2099 made the difficult decision to take job action. Unless a new agreement is reached, city services, programs, events, and facilities will continue to be negatively impacted.
One of the main issues is that the city wants set-up a two-tier system with inferior benefits for new hires. The members of CUPE 2099 won’t accept a contract that doesn’t provide the same rights and benefits for all workers.
Also, with the rate of inflation at the highest it’s been in 40 years and with the soaring cost of living, these workers need a reasonable wage adjustment. But the City of Mount Pearl doesn’t care about these workers and their families, or good jobs and quality services.
CUPE 2099 represents more than 200 municipal workers who work in recreation services, administration, taxation and finance, road maintenance, water and sewage, facilities maintenance, landscape maintenance, engineering, and planning.
Many of them are your neighbours, friends, parents, and members of the Mount Pearl community. They’re the people who are always there for us when we need them, even through difficult times like snowmageddon and the pandemic.
They love what they do – delivering quality municipal services.
CUPE National President Mark Hancock and CUPE National Secretary-treasurer Candace Rennick will be in Mount Pearl today, to support striking municipal workers who are members of CUPE 2099.
Media and the public are invited to attend a “Community Appreciation and Solidarity BBQ” today from 12 to 2 p.m., located at the city depot at 59 Clyde Avenue, Mount Pearl.
The members of CUPE 2099 are inviting Mount Pearl residents, friends, family, pets, neighbours, union members and allies to this event. Complimentary BBQ food and beverages will be provided, including Ziggy’s PeelsGoods fry truck. Everyone is welcome!
Speakers and special guests:
“We want to take this opportunity to thank our community for their support during this difficult time,” says Ken Turner, CUPE 2099 president. “After almost four months of trying to reach a deal with a difficult and unreasonable employer, the members of CUPE 2099 made the difficult decision to take job action. Our members want to get back to doing what they love – delivering quality public services.”
To continue municipal services and avoid further disruptions, CUPE 2099 is asking residents to go to WeAreMountPearl.ca and send a message to the mayor and councillors, asking them to negotiate a fair deal with workers now.
CUPE 2099 represents more than 200 municipal workers who work in recreation services, administration, taxation and finance, road maintenance, water and sewage, facilities maintenance, landscape maintenance, engineering, planning, and more.
Municipal employees at the City of Mount Pearl went on strike this evening. The members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 2099 have been in collective bargaining with the city since March.
CUPE 2099 represents more than 200 municipal workers who work in recreation services, administration, taxation and finance, road maintenance, water and sewage, facilities maintenance, landscape maintenance, engineering, planning, and more.
“We don’t want to be on strike, but our employer refuses to bargain a fair collect agreement,” says Ken Turner, CUPE 2099 president. “One of the main issues is they want to set-up a two-tier system with inferior benefits for new hires. We won’t accept a contract that doesn’t provide the same rights and benefits for ‘all’ workers.”
