From nknickerbocker at bctf.ca Tue Sep 2 17:09:02 2003 From: nknickerbocker at bctf.ca (Nancy Knickerbocker) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 17:09:02 -0700 Subject: [LabComm] BCTF Forest Fire Relief Fund launched today Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.1.20030902170838.00afa1f0@pop.bctf.ca> NEWS RELEASE For immediate release Tuesday September 2, 2003 BCTF Forest Fire Relief Fund aims to help students and teachers Like all British Columbians, teachers have been horrified to see the catastrophic forest fires raging throughout our province this summer, threatening so many homes and communities. "Teachers want to do all we can to help our colleagues, students and their families during this terrible time," said BCTF President Neil Worboys. "Through our Federation, we are launching a Forest Fire Relief Fund for both students and teachers affected by the fires." The BCTF is kicking off the fund with an initial contribution of $125,000. "To help that sum grow, we're encouraging local teacher associations, individual members and retired teachers also to contribute," Worboys said. "We've already heard about many creative fund-raising efforts teachers are launching in their communities, and I have no doubt other activities will be planned once everyone's back to school." The fund will be used to offer a gift of $200 for each student affected by the forest fires to help purchase school supplies and the many other necessities at this time of year. "Students and their families face extremely high expenses this month, especially with the cost of school supplies and course fees going up all the time," Worboys said. "We'll be setting up support committees in the fire-stricken communities to help parents of the thousands of affected students to access the fund." The BCTF Forest Fire Relief Fund also provides grants of $5,000 for teachers who have lost their homes to fire and $1,000 for those who were evacuated due to a forest fire threat. "It's an old saying in the union movement that 'an injury to one is an injury to all'," Worboys said. "We're trying to express that support and solidarity with our colleagues and students who have been hurt by these disastrous fires." This week Worboys will be travelling to several of the fire-affected areas to meet with teachers, students, and parents. Teachers will also be working with parents and other community members to help children overcome the trauma of losing their homes or being uprooted during such a frightening experience. Members of the B.C. School Counsellors' Association and the BCTF Social Justice Advisory Committee have prepared tips for parents and teachers to support children as they deal with the impact of the fires. They will be posted on the BCTF website at: www.bctf.ca/ Donations to the BCTF Forest Fire Relief Fund are welcome: 550 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4P2 Attention: Rob McLaren, Treasurer -30- For more information, please call Nancy Knickerbocker, BCTF media relations officer, at 604-871-1881 (office) or 604-250-6775 (cell). **************** "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." Dante, 1265-1321 Nancy Knickerbocker BCTF media relations officer Office: 604-871-1881 Cell: 604-250-6775 Toll free: 1-800-663-9163 From Anita.Miotto at bcgeu.ca Wed Sep 3 08:57:16 2003 From: Anita.Miotto at bcgeu.ca (Miotto, Anita) Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2003 08:57:16 -0700 Subject: [LabComm] Media Democracy Day (MDD) Message-ID: <517DADDBB3EDAF44A2620DCB53689BD6018CD503@exchange.bcgeu.bc.ca> Dear labour communicators, For the past two years, BCGEU has been involved with Media Democracy Day (MDD), an annual day of education and organizing started in 2001. Events have included workshops and panel discussions on issues like media concentration and how to build a citizen's alternative to the corporate media. An independent media fair has featured local newspapers, news web sites, radio and TV initiatives, independent video documentaries, and labour media. It would be great to see more unions involved with MDD, especially featuring your magazines and newsletters at the independent media fair. There are a number of ways to be involved - without having to attend a whole lot of meetings or make large donations. Media Democracy Day 2003 will take place at the Vancouver Public Library (main branch) on Saturday, October 18. There will be workshops during the day (to discuss issues like media convergence, and to develop skills like how to create your own radio and web news content), a keynote discussion featuring a reunion of Vancouver Sun reporters/editors who have gotten the boot, and an independent media fair (which is expected to get 500-1000 visitors). If you are interested in participating, here are some things you can do: * Sign up for space at the independent media fair to feature your union's magazine/newspaper - it's free. * Advertize MDD to your members. * Encourage your union to make a small financial contribution to MDD of $250 to $500. I'd be happy to talk about this with you, or you can also contact Shannon Daub at 604-801-5509. Many thanks, Brian Gardiner, BCGEU Communications __ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkhaira at cupe.ca Fri Sep 5 09:08:12 2003 From: hkhaira at cupe.ca (Harprit Khaira) Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 09:08:12 -0700 Subject: [LabComm] PRESS RELEASE: Sept. 4 re: CUPE hails Supreme Court decision on equal pay for women emergency dispatchers Message-ID: CUPE Communique September 4, 2003 CUPE hails Supreme Court decision on equal pay for women emergency dispatchers BURNABY ? It took 13 years but women emergency dispatchers may finally get paid the same as their male counterparts based on a Supreme Court of British Columbia decision released today. The decision quashes an earlier ruling by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal that allowed the City of Vancouver to pay women police dispatchers, once called communications operators, far less than male fire dispatchers. The city had argued that the women worked for the Vancouver Police Board. The tribunal agreed. This meant the city could continue to pay women dispatchers an average $22,000 to $33,000 a year less than the male fire dispatchers. Under the B.C. Human Rights Code you cannot compare wages paid by two separate employers. The Canadian Union of Public Employees appealed the decision through a judicial review process. The Supreme Court agreed with the union?s arguments. The court will send it back to the Human Rights Tribunal. It will have to reconsider the issue. ?This is a great forward step for the dispatchers, for women workers and for CUPE,? said Conni Kilfoil, a CUPE lawyer. The union funded much of the case. There are major implications for five other municipalities as well. Richmond, Coquitlam, Burnaby, New Westminster and North Vancouver all have emergency dispatchers. All had filed human rights complaints that were wrongly dismissed by the Human Rights Commission based on the City of Vancouver decision. ?Hopefully this seals off any further attempts to try to evade paying women equally using a spurious argument about who employs the dispatchers,? said Anita Braha, legal counsel to the emergency dispatchers and CUPE. ?It has implications for municipalities with police boards but also for other similar boards and commissions.? ?The previous decision does not stand any longer,? Braha said. ?This is very good news for all women workers.? -30- Contact: Conni Kilfoil, CUPE Legal and Legislative Representative, 604-585-1841; Ron Verzuh, CUPE Communications, 604-291-1940 or 828-7668. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: sept 4 03.doc Type: application/msword Size: 369664 bytes Desc: not available URL: From hkhaira at cupe.ca Wed Sep 17 14:40:23 2003 From: hkhaira at cupe.ca (Harprit Khaira) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 14:40:23 -0700 Subject: [LabComm] PRESS RELEASE: September 17 re: CUPE vows to fight raises for top managers Message-ID: CUPE Communique September 17, 2003 CUPE vows to fight raises for top managers KAMLOOPS, B.C. - School trustees should be ashamed of themselves for proposing big raises for top administrators while cutting services to students, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees. ?School board workers will not sit idly by and watch senior administrators get fat while everyone else tightens their belts,? said John Hall, secretary for CUPE Local 3500. ?We are going to fight this all the way.? Four months ago, the School District 73 Board of Trustees made massive cuts to balance the budget. 101 workers were cut and class sizes have increased dramatically. Five elementary schools have been closed or annexed and two high schools merged. Workloads went up for all the employee groups suffering layoffs, but salaries did not. Now, trustees want to raise the salaries of the school Superintendent, Directors of Education and confidential secretaries. They will propose the raise at the board meeting on September 22 in Barriere. Under the proposal the school Superintendent?s salary would go to $121,000 a year from $115,000, a 4.5 percent increase. Education Directors would go to $102,000 a year from $94.000, an 8.5 per cent hike. The wage proposals will need to be approved by the BC Public Employers? Association. ?These pay hikes are just not on,? Hall said. ?When funding is down because enrolment is declining, why do administrators already making a big salary need to get paid more?? Hall noted that this is a time of tight budgets. Class sizes are increasing, services to students are being eliminated and other employees are forced to do more with less. He urged parents and residents to contact the school board and speak out before the Monday meeting. ?Trustees need to get their priorities straight and cancel these pay hikes,? Hall said. ?Massive cuts to services in June to balance the budget and a surplus in September for salary increases is not going to sit well with workers or parents.? Local 3500 represents about 673 custodial, clerical and support staff in Kamloops/Thompson schools. -30- Contact: John Hall, Local 3500, 250-377-8446 opeiu491 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Sept 17 03 CUPE local 3500.doc Type: application/msword Size: 364544 bytes Desc: not available URL: From SchultJ at psac-afpc.com Wed Sep 17 14:43:59 2003 From: SchultJ at psac-afpc.com (Joanna Schultz) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 17:43:59 -0400 Subject: [LabComm] Re: LabComm Digest, Vol 4, Issue 3 (Away from the Office) Message-ID: This is an automatic reply. I will be in Yellowknife until September 23rd. If your e-mail is of an urgent nature, please phone the office at 604-430-5631 or 1-800-663-1655 and ask to speak to another member of our staff. If not, I look forward to responding upon my return. Thanks, Joanna Schultz, Regional Rep. PSAC Vancouver RO >>> labcomm 09/17/03 17:43 >>> Send LabComm mailing list submissions to labcomm at bcfed.net To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://bcfed.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/labcomm or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to labcomm-request at bcfed.net You can reach the person managing the list at labcomm-owner at bcfed.net When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of LabComm digest..." Today's Topics: 1. PRESS RELEASE: September 17 re: CUPE vows to fight raises for top managers (Harprit Khaira) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 14:40:23 -0700 From: "Harprit Khaira" Subject: [LabComm] PRESS RELEASE: September 17 re: CUPE vows to fight raises for top managers To: "LABCOMM" Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" CUPE Communique September 17, 2003 CUPE vows to fight raises for top managers KAMLOOPS, B.C. - School trustees should be ashamed of themselves for proposing big raises for top administrators while cutting services to students, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees. "School board workers will not sit idly by and watch senior administrators get fat while everyone else tightens their belts," said John Hall, secretary for CUPE Local 3500. "We are going to fight this all the way." Four months ago, the School District 73 Board of Trustees made massive cuts to balance the budget. 101 workers were cut and class sizes have increased dramatically. Five elementary schools have been closed or annexed and two high schools merged. Workloads went up for all the employee groups suffering layoffs, but salaries did not. Now, trustees want to raise the salaries of the school Superintendent, Directors of Education and confidential secretaries. They will propose the raise at the board meeting on September 22 in Barriere. Under the proposal the school Superintendent's salary would go to $121,000 a year from $115,000, a 4.5 percent increase. Education Directors would go to $102,000 a year from $94.000, an 8.5 per cent hike. The wage proposals will need to be approved by the BC Public Employers' Association. "These pay hikes are just not on," Hall said. "When funding is down because enrolment is declining, why do administrators already making a big salary need to get paid more?" Hall noted that this is a time of tight budgets. Class sizes are increasing, services to students are being eliminated and other employees are forced to do more with less. He urged parents and residents to contact the school board and speak out before the Monday meeting. "Trustees need to get their priorities straight and cancel these pay hikes," Hall said. "Massive cuts to services in June to balance the budget and a surplus in September for salary increases is not going to sit well with workers or parents." Local 3500 represents about 673 custodial, clerical and support staff in Kamloops/Thompson schools. -30- Contact: John Hall, Local 3500, 250-377-8446 opeiu491 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Sept 17 03 CUPE local 3500.doc Type: application/msword Size: 364544 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://bcfed.net/pipermail/labcomm/attachments/20030917/9425e2f5/Sept1703CUPElocal3500.doc ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ LabComm mailing list LabComm at bcfed.net http://bcfed.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/labcomm End of LabComm Digest, Vol 4, Issue 3 ************************************* From Anita.Miotto at bcgeu.ca Fri Sep 26 09:28:02 2003 From: Anita.Miotto at bcgeu.ca (Miotto, Anita) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:28:02 -0700 Subject: [LabComm] Unnecessary layoffs at Sidney Intermediate Care Home Message-ID: <517DADDBB3EDAF44A2620DCB53689BD6018CD551@exchange.bcgeu.bc.ca> Friday, September 26, 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Unnecessary layoffs at Sidney Intermediate Care Home Negotiations to sign a local agreement between members of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) and the Sidney Intermediate Care Home have ended with the employer failing to respond to the union's latest offer. The BCGEU initiated negotiations with the home in an effort to avoid the layoff of over 30 long term care aides. "We are very disappointed with the Sidney Intermediate Care Home's lack of response," said Lori Strom, the BCGEU negotiator. "We entered into these talks in good faith and proposed a reduction in wages and benefits and still the employer chose not to negotiate a fair agreement. He is planning to contract out the jobs." "Many residents with dementia are often in a state of fear and desperately need those familiar faces to give them a sense of security," said Jaci White, chair of the BCGEU's community health workers Local 401. "The continuity of quality care for seniors in Sidney is threatened by these layoffs." "Residents at the home are devastated over the layoffs," said Strom. "We can only hope the employer recognizes how valuable these workers are and comes back to the table with a new offer. Other health facilities have voluntarily signed local agreements." "This employer is putting profits before patient care," said White. "People living in the Sidney area who are considering having their parents placed at the Sidney Intermediate Care Home might want to reconsider their plans, given the disruption in service that will likely take place," said Strom. Staff from the home will be meeting to map out a campaign to put pressure on Sidney Intermediate Care to back down from their layoffs. -30- Contact: Lori Strom (250) 246-8771 opeiu 378 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkhaira at cupe.ca Tue Sep 30 12:02:25 2003 From: hkhaira at cupe.ca (Harprit Khaira) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 12:02:25 -0700 Subject: [LabComm] PRESS RELEASE: September 30 re: UBC layoff plan puts campus at risk Message-ID: CUPE Communique September 30, 2003 UBC layoff plan puts campus at risk VANCOUVER ? UBC?s plan to cut up to 26 security staff and replace them with untrained students will put the university community at risk, says CUPE, the union representing security workers. ?The university is demanding that we violate our own collective agreement or face layoffs,? said Colleen Garbe, vice-president of CUPE Local 116. If the union does not agree, the university will layoff two-thirds of the staff as of Nov. 17, 2003. ?When you replace trained professional security staff with untrained personnel in highly dangerous situations, you have a disaster waiting to happen,? Garbe said. ?The volunteer Safewalk program is a wonderful supplement to a professional security force,? she added. ?But to place these young people in harm?s way and compromise the safety of students, faculty and university staff is unconscionable.? Security staff are almost always the first response to a campus incident. They are trained in conflict resolution, fire safety, emergency response, first aid, CPR, crisis intervention, and have a Class 4 license to transport passengers. Well-trained security is a crucial part of a safe campus. Instead of improving safety, the university?s proposal has the campus community up in arms. The women?s studies department has voiced concerns about security levels on campus. ?CUPE 116 is committed to a safe campus, which is such a huge issue. If the university wants to address scheduling issues, they need to meet with us, not announce layoffs that jeopardize safety,? said Garbe. ?Instead of presenting us with a workable proposal, they gave us pink slips. We would love to meet, but they won?t give us a proposal.? -30- Contact: Colleen Garbe, vice-president Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 116 Phone: 604-809-6616 cellular or 604-822-6116 office. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Sept 30 03 local 116.doc Type: application/msword Size: 364032 bytes Desc: not available URL: From Anita.Miotto at bcgeu.ca Tue Sep 30 16:01:12 2003 From: Anita.Miotto at bcgeu.ca (Miotto, Anita) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 16:01:12 -0700 Subject: [LabComm] Will your health care information end up with American corporations? Message-ID: <517DADDBB3EDAF44A2620DCB53689BD6018CD565@exchange.bcgeu.bc.ca> Tuesday, September 30, 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Will your health care information end up with American corporations? The provincial government is currently considering bids from four companies to take over the information and services administration of the Medical Services Plan (MSP) and PharmaCare. According to the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) three of the corporations are American based multinationals. The information was circulated to staff in the Ministry of Health Services on Friday by e-mail. "The Liberal government seems intent on going ahead with these plans," said BCGEU President George Heyman. "As a result of the government's decision, private American-based corporations will have access to the confidential health records of all British Columbians." The four companies mentioned in the e-mail are the CGI Group, EDS, IBM Canada Ltd., and Maximus. CGI Group is the Canadian firm. "We should be deeply concerned over the Americanization of our health care, but contracting out information services to a Canadian firm isn't a solution either," said Heyman. "The service shouldn't be contracted out-period." The BCGEU maintains that government has deliberately allowed MSP and PharmaCare systems to deteriorate, setting up an excuse for involving private, for profit companies in the administration of these important health care programs. Private companies involved to date are not able to deliver. -30- Contact: Brian Gardiner, BCGEU Communications (604) 291-9611 opeiu 378 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: