[BC_Labour_E-NEWS] November 26, 2004

[bc_labour_enews at bcfed.net]

BC LABOUR NEWS NETWORK
Electronic News from the B.C. Federation of Labour
November 26, 2004
________________________________________________
 
To subscribe or unsubscribe, follow the instructions at the end of this
message.
 
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE.
 
Messages to this mailbox are processed automatically, and are not read
by a person.  If you would like to contact us, send messages to: 
< mailto:bcfed at bcfed.com <mailto:bcfed at bcfed.com >
 
Help spread the word - FORWARD THIS E-MAIL to your friends.
 
+++|+++
 
CONTENTS
1> BCFL Convention kicks off November 29 - December 3
2> CAW Local 3000 Requests Picket Support
3> Union wants BC Liberals to expand probe at Surrey Memorial Hospital
-- Investigation should include public disclosure of privatized cleaning
standards
4> THE TYEE - Beware of Zombie Truckers
5> Kwantlen support staff vote 88 percent in favour of strike action
6> Labour sponsors 9th Annual Community Christmas Dinners
 
++++|++++
 
1> B.C. Federation of Labour Annual Convention
 
Over 1200 delegates have registered so far for the B.C. Federation of
Labour's 48th convention at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition
Centre, November 29 - December 3, 2004.
 
Guest speakers at the convention will include Maria Marcela Maspero from
the Union Nacional de Trabajordores (UNT) Venezuela, BC NDP Leader
Carole James, Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton, and Canadian Labour
Congress Secretary-Treasurer Hassan Yussuff.
 
Monday Evening - Wal-Mart Women
Featuring organizers from UFCW Locals currently organizing Wal-Mart in
Canada, and Carolyn Sapp, the US activist who launched the class-action
suit against Wal-Mart.
 
Tuesday Evening - International Solidarity Night
Featuring Thulas Nxesi from the South African Democratic Teachers'
Union, Alfonso Narenjo, Leader of the Colombian Health Care Union, and
Alfredo Porras, a Colombian Coca-Cola Worker.
 
Wednesday Evening - Occupational Health and Safety Fightback Campaign
 

The theme of this year's convention is "Building a Better BC".
 
+++|+++
 
2> CAW Local 3000 requests picket support
 
Fifty members of CAW Local 3000 in the Food and Beverage Department of
the Hollyburn Country Club went on strike on Wednesday, November 10.
They have been trying to reach a new Collective Agreement since March
2004. 
 
The union has tabled a reasonable wage increase to protect incomes
against increases in the cost of living, but Hollyburn's offer includes
no wage increase and no job security.  Hollyburn also wants the union to
agree to assigned section rotation and a reduction of available sick
days.
 
The union met with the Company Tuesday, November 23rd to address an
illegal strike replacement complaint at the LRB.  No bargaining took
place.
 
CAW Local 3000 President Frank Sobczak says the union will be stepping
up the pressure on the employer by getting as many of their supporters
to show up on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings on the picket
line.
 
If you have time to lend some support at the picket line on Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday evenings, please join them.
 
950 Crosscreek Road, West Vancouver.
*(on the Upper Levels Highway #1 traveling towards Horseshoe Bay, take
Exit 11 (15th Street), turn right on 15th Street North and you will
reach the picket line in about 1 and 1/2 minutes!)*
 
For more information, call Frank Sobczak, President Local 3000, at:
604-220-8409 or the Coordinators of the CAW Flying Squad, Mable Elmore
at: 604-783-5171 or Stacy Wakfer at: 604-517-1525.
 
+++|+++
 
3> Union wants BC Liberals to expand probe at Surrey Memorial Hospital
-- Investigation should include public disclosure of privatized cleaning
standards
 
A government-ordered investigation into emergency and maternity care at
Surrey Memorial Hospital must be expanded to other Fraser Health
Authority (FHA) facilities and include an examination of privatization's
impact on infection control, says the Hospital Employees' Union.
 
High-profile cases reported in the media in the last few days are only
the most recent incidents of compromised health and safety to be
reported since the FHA handed over critical cleaning functions to the
foreign multi-national Sodexho during the past year.
 
"Without a full disclosure of the standards to which the private
cleaning contractor is being held, this investigation will fail to
restore public confidence," says HEU Acting Secretary-Business Manager
Zorica Bosancic.  "Problems are not limited to Surrey Memorial and
neither should this investigation be."
 
Other incidents this year include:
 
- In March, the Abbotsford Times reported on blood smears in delivery
rooms and trash left behind beds in the emergency ward at MSA Hospital.
The FHA promised penalties if substandard conditions continued;
 
- In April, the special care nursery at Royal Columbian Hospital was
closed due to a superbug outbreak;
 
- In August, patient complaints about cleanliness at the Royal Columbian
emergency room led the FHA to promise more staffing from the private
contractor.  But more complaints were raised in September by a patient
placed in a bed with wet and soiled linens; and 
 
- In September, a Workers' Compensation Board investigation determined
that Sodexho's health and safety procedures at MSA Hospital were
applicable to the hospitality sector not to health care.  The WCB probe
followed an incident where a contract worker was exposed to biohazardous
waste.
 
"The contract workers have been telling us that their workloads are
extreme and they've received minimal training.  These issues must be
part of the investigation as well," says Bosancic. 
 
The HEU has filed Freedom of Information requests to determine the level
of cleaning standards agreed to by the FHA in its five-year contract
with Sodexho, but those requests have so far only produced blank pages
of severed material. 
 
"There's a total lack of transparency and accountability when it comes
to infection control standards post-privatization," says Bosancic.  "If
the government is serious about restoring public confidence, this
secrecy must end now."
 
+++|+++
 
4> TYEE - Beware of 'Zombie' Truck Loggers
 
Longer shifts are stretching truckers to the point of dangerous
exhaustion, say drivers and union reps.
 
Read the full article:
< http://www.thetyee.ca/News/current/BewareZombieTruck.htm >
 
Subscribe to The Tyee:
 
< http://www.thetyee.ca/About+Us/subscribe_standard.htm >
 
+++|+++
 
5> Kwantlen support staff vote 88 percent for strike action to press for
fair wage
 
Unionized support staff at Kwantlen University College have voted 88
percent in favour of strike action to back up demands for a fair
contract settlement.
 
Talks between the college and more than 400 support staff represented by
the BC Government and Service Employees' Union broke off October 15th
because of the Campbell government's rigid zero percent wage increase
mandate for public sector workers.
 
"The result should send a clear message to Kwantlen and Victoria that a
pay increase must be part of any settlement for college support staff,"
says BCGEU President George Heyman.
 
Heyman says his union's primary goal is to negotiate a new collective
agreement, and has no immediate plans to issue strike notice.  "Our next
move will be to try to resume discussions to reach a deal," he says.
 
Like their counterparts at other BC colleges and institutes, Kwantlen
support staff have gone without raises in five of the last seven years,
and have seen their real incomes fall by more than seven percent during
that period after taking inflation into account.
 
The union is seeking wage increases of seven percent in a new four-year
agreement.  Support staff also want access to benefit provisions already
enjoyed by college instructors.
 
College support staff operate audio/visual services along with
registration, counseling, academic advice and financial aid programs.
 
They also assist in trades training and student labs, maintain
buildings, and provide library, IT and computer services.  Kwantlen has
campuses in Surrey, Richmond and Langley.
 
+++|+++
 
6> Labour sponsors 9th Annual Community Christmas Dinners
 
Once again, unions and union members are extending a hand to those in
the community who may be having a difficult time this Christmas.
 
The Labour Community Christmas dinners consist of a full turkey dinner
with all the trimmings, live music and carols and gifts from Santa for
every child and teenager there.
 
If you know of a family in need, please let them know about the dinners.
Reservations are not necessary and families can drop by on Christmas Eve
between the hours of 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm at the following locations:
 
Maritime Labour Centre
1880 Triumph Street (at Victoria Drive)
Vancouver, BC
 
Upper Auditorium
Whalley Legion
13525 - 106th Avenue
Surrey, BC
 
For more information, or to volunteer or donate, please call Marie
Decaire at 604-430-1421 or send e-mail to < mailto:community at bcfed.com
>.
 
+++|+++
 
++++++|++++++
 
To subscribe to E-News, visit: < http://www.bcfed.com/sub.htm >.
 
If you want to unsubscribe or change your options (e.g, change your
password, suspend E-News while you are on vacation, etc.), visit your
personal subscription page at:
< http://bcfed.net/cgibin/mailman/options/bc_labour_enews/ >
 
To get helpful information, send a message to: < mailto:BC_Labour_E-News
> with "help" in the subject line (no quotation marks).
 
TO CONTACT THE FEDERATION, send an email to: < mailto:bcfed at bcfed.com >
 
cope 15