[BC_Labour_E-NEWS] B.C. Federation of Labour E-News--November 3, 2006

[bc_labour_enews at bcfed.net]

B.C. Federation of Labour E-News--November 3, 2006


  


 

Stories

Action Alert: Tell Gordon Campbell to raise BC's minimum wage to $10
<http://www.democracyinaction.com/dia/organizationsCOM/bcfed/petition.js
p?petition_KEY=229&t=2%20column%20template.dwt> 

A quarter-million of BC's lowest paid workers deserve a raise. Add your
name
<http://www.democracyinaction.com/dia/organizationsCOM/bcfed/petition.js
p?petition_KEY=229&t=2%20column%20template.dwt>  to this electronic
petition calling on Gordon Campbell to immediately increase BC's minimum
wage to $10. 

BC's lowest paid workers deserve a raise - Scrap the training wage,
increase minimum wage to $10 per hour <http://www.bcfed.com/node/605> 

 B.C.F.L. President Jim Sinclair is joined by CFS rep Shamus Reid to
call for an increase to BC's minimum wage.

Vancouver - It's time to scrap the training wage and raise BC's minimum
wage to $10.00 per hour says B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim
Sinclair.

"BC's lowest paid workers deserve a raise," Sinclair said. "Minimum wage
earners working full-time should earn enough to stay above the poverty
line. That can only be achieved by immediately raising the minimum wage
to at least $10.00 per hour."

"The provincial government likes to crow about a booming economy, but
it's only booming for a few. BC's lowest paid workers have been left
behind," Sinclair said. Sinclair's comments came on the fifth
anniversary of BC's last increase to the minimum wage.

Between 2000 and 2005, employment in BC grew by nine percent, but the
number of British Columbians earning the minimum wage increased by 36
percent.

"Five years ago BC's freeze on tuition was eliminated, but a freeze on
minimum wage was put in place and students have been paying the price
ever since," said Shamus Reid, BC National Executive Representative of
the Canadian Federation of Students.

"Since 2001, average tuition has climbed from $2,275 to $4,900 in 2006
and wages haven't come close to keeping up," Reid said.

Earlier this week Harry Arthurs, former Mediator and Dean of Osgoode
Hall Law School, released a report reviewing the federal Labour
Relations Code. Arthurs recommended that "the [federal] government
should accept the principle that no Canadian worker should work
full-time for a year and still live in poverty".

 Read more or download the Federation's brief on minimum wage
<http://www.bcfed.com/node/605> . 

Premier's P3 policy 'a disaster' for B.C. municipalities
<http://www.cupe.bc.ca/3637> 

VICTORIA - Premier Gordon Campbell has dealt BC municipalities a harsh
ideological broadside with today's announcement that Partnerships BC now
has the authority to decide whether major public infrastructure projects
become public-private partnerships (P3s), says the B.C. division of the
Canadian Union of Public Employees. Read more.
<http://www.cupe.bc.ca/3637> 

Events

The Defence of Public Water: A Mexican Voice Against Water
Privatization. <http://www.bcfed.com/node/610> 

Date: Monday November 6, 2006 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

With Special Guest Claudia Campero, Arena Mexican Water Activist &
Organizer of Blue October www.blueoctobercampaign.org
<http://www.bcfed.com/www.blueoctobercampaign.org>  Learn more.
<http://www.bcfed.com/node/610> 

B.C. Federation of Labour 50th Convention A Proud History. A Strong
Future. <http://www.bcfed.com/about_us/convention> 

The B.C. Federation of Labour's 50th Annual Convention takes place
November 27 through December 1, 2006 at the Vancouver Convention and
Exhibition Centre.

This year's theme: A Proud History. A Strong Future. celebrates the B.C.
Federation's 50th Anniversary. Learn more.
<http://www.bcfed.com/about_us/convention> 

"STRIKE UP THE BAND" B.C. FEDERATION OF LABOUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
<http://www.bcfed.com/node/611> 

Date: Thursday November 30, 2006 from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm

In conjunction with our upcoming Convention, we have been working with
the Vancouver Folk Music Festival Society to hold a special concert to
commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the B.C. Federation of Labour. Learn
more. <http://www.bcfed.com/node/611> 

Publications

Guest Worker Contract Dubious Alleges Union Lawyer-Costa Rican digging
Vancouver tunnel testifies firm promised far less pay than official
documents reflect. <http://thetyee.ca/News/2006/10/27/GuestWorker/> 

The lawyer for the union representing Latin American workers, imported
to dig a tunnel under False Creek in Vancouver, has raised the
possibility that immigration and contract documents for at least one of
those workers was tampered with by an employer.

The suggestion, raised Wednesday at a hearing of the BC Labour Relations
Board and yet to be proven, is the latest twist in the ongoing dispute
between an Italian subcontractor on the Canada Line project and the
union that organized tunnelers brought to Canada on federal work
permits. 

The Italian firm is SELI Tecnologie. The LRB session was considering a
complaint of unfair labour practices laid against SELI by the
Construction and Specialized Workers Union Local 1611, which organized
the workers in June. Read more.
<http://thetyee.ca/News/2006/10/27/GuestWorker/> 

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