Wednesday, September 5, 2007

CUPE Strike - About Vancouver or More?

CUPE president says citizens' power is under attack.

By Barry O'Neill

Published: September 3, 2007
TheTyee.ca

[Editor's note: These comments are drawn from an address given by CUPE B.C. President Barry O'Neill to his union's convention on May 9, 2007, in Victoria.]

EXERPTS:

Since the provincial election in 2005, we have not seen the kind of sustained attack on working people and communities that we saw from 2001 to 2005, at least on the face of it. But of course the cuts for the poor, for women, for community services, for childcare -- they stayed in place. And thousands of our brothers and sisters in the HEU who lost their jobs did not get their jobs back. Those who did but were hired by privatized companies -- or the people who replaced them -- often live in poverty. . .

. . . And finally, we come to privatization and public-private partnerships. We know these deals do not work for our citizens. They are secretive, they are expensive and they don't deliver. But they are very, very profitable, and they are coming at us faster than we have ever seen before. We know that to meet the needs of municipalities over the next few years, there will need to be 60 billion dollars invested, and both the federal and provincial governments want that to fall in the hands of their corporate buddies.

We are fighting them, and despite the vast resources they have, we are often successful. How do you beat the money they can throw at these projects? Knowledge, skill, dedication and hard work.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why does O'Neil cast CUPE's lot with 'citizens'? Isn't everyone a citizen? Everybody in the private sector is a citzen too, John. In fact I'm one 'citizen' who wants CUPE to make LESS not more. No other workers are going to get raises five years in a row like CUPE workers. As a 'citizen' and a TAXPAYER I'm going to be expecting some ZERO increases in the subsequent CUPE contracts.

Anonymous said...

And CUPE isn't very profitable, especially when it holds a virtual monopoly on many government job categories in the country, never mind the city...

There's very little difference between the companies that take part in PPPs and CUPE. That's probably why the leadership is so annoyed at someone else muscling in on their territory and reducing their profits.

spartikus said...

As a 'citizen' and a TAXPAYER I'm going to be expecting some ZERO increases in the subsequent CUPE contracts.

Fantastic. And as a 'citizen', a taxpayer, and a consumer I'll expect your business to NEVER raise it's prices during the length of that CUPE contract.

Historical note: During the 1990's CUPE 391 signed not one, but two 3 year contracts of 0, 0, and 1%

Given the rate of inflation, that's a defacto pay cut. There was a recession on, and the union acknowledged that belt tightening was required.

Anonymous said...

You can't be serious. For-profit companies are intrinsically different from unions.

Suggesting that a union is deficient for 'not being profitable' is like saying dogs are deficient for not having wings and flying.

And if you're going to use metrics couched in competition terms, having a 'virtual monopoly' on hiring contracts is pretty successful, wouldn't you say?

Think about this for a second. How is that Sullivan's managed to alienate the *librarians* ?

Anonymous said...

After a 17.5% increase for this pending contract I think CUPE is due for a zero in its next one. Let the rest of the province catch up to its well paid civil servants.

Anonymous said...

I'll expect your business to NEVER raise it's prices during the length of that CUPE contract.

A CUPE raise means a tax hike. If I get a raise it doesn't cost CUPE members anything, when CUPE members get a raise I pay more; thats why public sector unions don't get a lot of support especially when they turn their noses up at a five year deal that calls for raises each year on top of an already generous salary and exceptionally generous benefits. If the deal the City of Vancouver keeps offering is so terrible why do CUPE members continue to stay? If you want even more money why don't you get a job that pays more instead of bleeding taxpayers white?

spartikus said...

A CUPE raise means a tax hike.

Actually, no it doesn't. The City of Vancouver consistently runs surpluses and would continue to run surpluses even if the CUPE counter-proposal was accepted.

thats why public sector unions don't get a lot of support

Again, the facts on the ground for this civic strike don't bare this out. The latest polls linked to on this very blog indicate the unions enjoying higher public support than the City.

on top of an already generous salary and exceptionally generous benefits.

Working for the government and serving the citizenry of this great city is indeed rewarding, but not in the financial sense. The idea that civic workers across the board earn more than their private sector counterparts is, quite frankly, unsupportable.

The 3 CUPE unions represent workers from hundreds of different professions - from architects to childcare workers. Some professions employed by the City may earn more than the private sector, but most do not. In my own profession I would earn 40% more. I stay because I truly believe in the service my organization provides to the community.