[LabComm] PRESS RELEASE: July 18 re: Civic workers campaign highlights poor service

[Harprit Khaira]

Hi All:

Please find attached the above noted press release.

Attention BC Division:  Lori...please post to the web.

Area Office Support Staff:  Please distribute.

BC Regional Staff:  Hard copy is in your in-tray.


In Solidarity,

Harprit Khaira, Opeiu 491
Secretary, BCRO Communications



Civic workers campaign highlights poor service

Prince George – On the way to work on Monday, residents may notice some new
street signs that reveal service inadequacies plaguing B.C.’s largest
northern metropolis. The signs are part of a new campaign from CUPE 399
outside workers.

The signs will ask: Streetlights out? Roads need repairs? Sidewalks need
repairs? Those questions represent a few of the frustrations citizens
complain about to city workers every day.

“Outside workers are as frustrated and fed up as the people who stop us to
ask why a streetlight has been out for months or why our sidewalks are not
being repaired,” said CUPE Local 399 president Kevin McConnachie. “They want
to know why they have to put up with the crumbling state of our roads.”

For city workers, the answer is simple. “The mayor and council decided that
the look and feel of our city infrastructure doesn’t merit top priority when
it comes to setting the budget,” McConnachie said. In recent years the
number of city employees needed to do the work in a timely fashion has
severely dwindled.

The public has been disgusted with the state of affairs on boulevards and
parks this summer, say city workers. The low level of staffing has only
allowed for occasional grass cutting. Citizens were furious with the massive
dandelion infestation. Now, as more jobs come to an end, streetlight, road
and sidewalk repairs will become an issue.

Yet citizen concerns are met with silence from the mayor and council. That’s
where CUPE’s campaign kicks in. In addition to the signs, a media campaign
will call on people to express their concerns.

A lobbying campaign will inform the mayor and council of the problems city
staff face in trying to keep up with the backlog of work. Public information
will be distributed to ensure that citizens know where the problems are at
any given time.

 “City managers have been trying to convince everyone that it’s cheaper to
contract out work done by city workers,” McConnachie said. “But nothing has
been saved by privatizing the work we use to do, be it beautification
upkeep, road or sewer work.”

CUPE will be publishing information during the campaign to prove just how
much more money the city is spending and how many fewer benefits citizens
receive.

                                                            -30-

Contact: Kevin McConnachie, CUPE Local 399 President, (250) 961-1196.
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