Turning my back on NS Liberals CUPE 8920

Member update on health care bargaining – October 13, 2017

After 22 days of negotiations, multiple pieces of Liberal legislation attacking workers’ rights, and employers who are attempting to take away key benefits from health care workers, talks have finally broken down between the Nova Scotia Council of Health Care Unions, the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) and IWK Hospital. Without any pressure to do so, the employers (NSHA and IWK) have requested the assistance of a conciliator from the Department of Labour to assist the parties. Employer negotiators have shown no interest in bargaining in good faith and still refuse to table their proposed changes to sick leave benefits for health care workers. As a result, there is nothing more we can accomplish at the table without the aid of a conciliator. It is expected conciliation will begin sometime in the next two months and is likely to last for many weeks due to the complexity of the task. … Read more…

Delegates hold up voting cards at the CUPE National Convention

Convention 2017 – Moving Forward Together

Dear Sisters, Brothers, and Friends: We’d like to thank the 2,200 delegates who took the time out of their lives to attend our National Convention in Toronto last week. We know it’s not easy, and we appreciate your commitment to our union, and the honesty and civility with which you engaged in debates around our union’s priorities, policies and structure. We accomplished a lot together, and we wanted to share some of the key decisions that were made. Strike Pay Delegates approved a resolution to begin pay for eligible members of striking locals on the first day of a strike, instead of the fifth, as is currently the case. This move will strengthen the position of locals who encounter obstinate and unreasonable demands from employers at the bargaining table. This change to strike pay is effective immediately. Coupled with the union’s renewed bargaining policy, which rejects all attempts by employers … Read more…

Nova Scotia Liberal Government stomping on workers’ rights

Unions fight-back legislation in Nova Scotia Hundreds of union members from across the province descended on opening day of the Nova Scotia Legislature on September 21, 2017. The workers, from several public sector unions, drowned out the Throne Speech being given inside at the same time. They sent a message to the McNeil Liberal Government that we will defend collective bargaining rights. “The unions will be around a lot longer than this Liberal Government!” See photos of the rally on Flickr. Organized by the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, CUPE was joined by members of Unifor, the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU), the Nova Scotia Nurses Union (NSTU), the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union (NSTU), the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), IUOE Local 727 (paramedics), and the Canadian Federation of Students. Three national union leaders joined provincial leaders to speak at the … Read more…