CUPE Library Update

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Bargaining Update

Bargaining Committee wrote this mid-afternoon:

In an effort to keep you as up to date as possible, we wanted to let you know that we are continuing to meet with the Employer. Tomorrow afternoon representatives from the Bargaining Committee will once again be speaking with representatives from the Library, Metro Vancouver (formerly the GVRD), and the City of Vancouver.

Please keep checking the blog for any further updates. Thanks so much.

UPDATE: REGIONAL CIVIC/LIBRARY BARGAINING & STRIKE STATUS

[October 14, 2007 05:07 PM]

[CUPE] Since Lower Mainland civic and library bargaining began last year, CUPE has negotiated and ratified 16 separate collective agreements with employers in the region. There are 10 contracts remaining, including an on-going strike of almost 800 Vancouver Public Library workers that began on July 26, 2007.

On Strike: CUPE 391 expecting to meet with employer to make adjustments to Foley's recommendations.

CUPE 391 (Vancouver public library workers), 800 workers
Contact: Alexandra Youngberg, CUPE 391 President, c: 604-908-6095

Municipalities where agreements have yet to be negotiated:

CUPE 386 (Coquitlam city workers), 826 workers
Contact: Jim Gorman, CUPE National Representative, c: 778-846-6100

CUPE 387 (New Westminster city workers), 400 workers
Contact: Rob Limongelli, CUPE National Representative, c: 778-773-1273

CUPE 403 (Langley Township workers), 500 workers
Contact: Susan Jansen, CUPE National Representative, c: 604-751-6543

CUPE 498 (City of Port Coquitlam), 279 workers
Contact: Jamie Arden, CUPE 498 President, c: 604-908-1498

CUPE 622 (Maple Ridge district workers), 325 workers
Contact: Susan Jansen, CUPE National Representative, c: 604-751-6543

CUPE 622 (Pitt Meadows city workers), 40 workers
Contact: Susan Jansen, CUPE National Representative, c: 604-751-6543

CUPE 2058 (Langley city workers), 150 workers
Contact: Susan Jansen, CUPE National Representative, c: 604-751-6543

Libraries that have yet to negotiate new contracts:

CUPE 561 (Coquitlam Public Library), 80 workers
Contact: Jim Gorman, CUPE National Representative, c: 778-836-6100

CUPE 3966 (Richmond Public Library), 150 workers
Contact: Jim Gorman, CUPE National Representative, 778-836-6100

CUPE 1004 - 83% Yes

Garbage strike ends: CUPE 1004 ratifies overwhelmingly

[October 14, 2007 04:49 PM]

VANCOUVER - A year after negotiations first began and after 88 days on strike, CUPE 1004 members finally have a contract and one that the members have overwhelmingly ratified (85% in City; 81% in Parks) in a vote today, Sunday October 14, 2007.

"We're excited to have a fair contract that we can be proud of," says CUPE 1004 President Mike Jackson. "This contract will help retain skilled employees and attract new ones. This is beneficial for the workers, but it is also beneficial to the City and the public that requires quality public services."

CUPE 1004 members voted today on a tentative agreement that was reached Friday between the union and the City after Foley's recommendations did not pass the local union's two-thirds majority test. The final contract is based on the recommendations, but also includes items that were "tweaked" by the two parties, including:

* Improved benefit coverage - acupuncture has been added to the list of items covered and employees will receive complete benefit coverage after their first month of employment rather than after their sixth month.

* A joint committee to address the assignment of overtime was established.

* The Olympic partnership agreement was adjusted to include an expedited dispute resolution process and system for assigning Olympic work.

* Areas of feasibility (horticulture, golf courses, sanitation) were identified for consideration by the compressed work week committee.

* Return to work agreement includes extension of time limit to return from 10 days to 14 days.

* Grievances will no longer be deemed abandoned after 90 days.

The workers will begin returning to work on Monday, October 15, 2007.

"We are looking forward to getting back to work," says Jackson, "and appreciate the patience and support we have received from the public as they have done without regular garbage, parks and street services for almost three months now."

Jackson is still uncertain how many CUPE 1004 members will ultimately return to their city jobs, since so many found alternate employment during the strike. However, they do have two weeks, which should allow those who are working time to give adequate notice. He is encouraging his members to return to work for the City of Vancouver, saying the contract is a fair one and vowing he will work with the employer to improve management-employee relations, which have been hurt by the strike and tensions leading up to it.

FOLEY'S RECOMMENDATIONS AND PREVIOUSLY AGREED TO ITEMS.

CUPE 1004 has two different contracts, one with the City of Vancouver (approx. 1200 workers in water, sewage, street repairs, garbage collection) and the other with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation (approx. 700 workers in sanitation, grass mowers, gardeners, outdoor lifeguards, etc.).

For more information, please contact:

Mike Jackson, CUPE 1004 President, 778-908-8070
Diane Kalen, CUPE Communications, 778-229-0258

EXCERPT: VANCOUVER SUN

Back to work

The deal ends 88 days of labour strife

KELLY SINOSKI and CATHERINE ROLFSEN

Published: Sunday, October 14, 2007

Garbage collection is set to resume in Vancouver Monday after the city's outside workers ratified a tentative agreement Sunday, after an almost three-month long strike.

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1004 members voted 85 per cent at the city and 81 per cent at the park board in favour of the "tweaked" agreement, which provides the 1,800 garbage collectors, street crew and parks workers with a 17.5-per cent wage increase over five years.

It also improves some of the contract language to give employees more certainty about benefits for new hires and about dispute-resolution mechanisms for the 2010 Olympic sites.

The union executive had recommended members accept the revised deal.

NEWS1130

Garbage strike is over in Vancouver

Sunday, October 14 - 06:13:07 PM Reshmi Nair and Kate Forman

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Union leader Mike Jackson says regularly scheduled pick up will happen tomorrow and extra trucks with be brought out to handle the extra bags. He's hoping that a combination of the automated and old style trucks won't mean much of a delay.

Many workers will not come back to work because they've found other jobs.

More than 80 percent of members agreed to deal which was based on the mediators recommendations.

The city is asking people to hang onto their recyclables and yard trimmings for the first two weeks but you will be able to put out up to six bags of waste.

The landfill and transfer station will also be open but long lines and delays are expected.

Around 800 library workers are still off the job.

CUPE 1004 Vote Result @ 5:30

CUPE 1004 media availability today: 5:30pm at Maritime Labour Centre

[October 14, 2007 01:42 PM]

CUPE 1004 President Mike Jackson will be available at 5:30pm at the Maritime Labour Centre, where the vote is taking place today, to comment on the results of the vote on the tentative agreement between the union and the City of Vancouver. CUPE 1004 has recommended ratification.

Location: Maritime Labour Centre, 1880 Triumph Street, Vancouver

Time: 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Date: Sunday, October 14, 2007

Please be advised that a press release will be issued as soon as the CUPE 1004 vote results have been tabulated.

Details of tentative agreement.

Christy Clark on the CUPE strike

SOURCE: VANCOUVER PROVINCE
Sunday October 14, 2007

CUPE loses the PR battle, but it's laughing all the way to the bank

Christy Clark, Special to The Province

Published: Sunday, October 14, 2007

The thing I dislike most about the way the media cover politics is their unrelenting focus on who's winning and who's losing the public-relations war. Meantime, the substance of what's at stake goes unexamined.

That explains the coverage of Vancouver's civic strike.

There was lots of talk of who was up and who was down. But only occasionally did we see any analysis of the real issues.

That approach may also explain why the various pundits have almost unanimously declared CUPE the loser as this silly strike grinds to its inevitable end.

They weren't paying attention.

First, CUPE wasn't the only loser in the battle for hearts and minds. The city lost, too. The union's overriding public-relations objective was to do some damage to Mayor Sam Sullivan. They took a beating, but they also succeeded in tarnishing Sullivan.

The second important fact is that CUPE members are walking away from this strike with an extra 17.5 per cent over five years. They have improved protection from contracting out. Plus, there's a $1,000 signing bonus to sweeten the deal.

It's true that Vancouver isn't the only municipality coughing up 17.5 per cent. Most of the rest caved for the same amount. But Vancouver employs the highest number of CUPE members of any city. It also has among the smallest proportion of its services contracted out to the private sector. That makes the settlement in Vancouver the costliest of any in the Lower Mainland.

And what does the city get out of the deal? According to mediator Brian Foley's report, some language in the new agreement gives it "reasonable room to move."

It will also improve vacation benefits for some new CUPE members. And, wait for it: the citizens of Vancouver get labour peace. Gee, thanks.

If those facts don't make it plain who won, consider what other public-sector unions got from a provincial government that's flush with money. The teachers' union got 16 per cent over five years. The BCGEU got 10 per cent over four years -- measly by comparison.

The pundits can grouse all they want about CUPE; for those of us who live in the city, it's quite clear who won -- the union.

It's ironic that CUPE's leaders initially failed to see what they had accomplished. Two out of the three of them at first rejected the mediator's recommendations. They got so caught up in the battle that they failed to see their victory. It didn't last, because at the end of the day, it's all about the money.

Ultimately, CUPE's leadership doesn't care a fig about who wins the PR skirmishes. Unions, especially public-sector ones, are used to losing in the court of public opinion. They don't care much about it because it doesn't add a cent to the bottom line.

Five years from now, no one will remember who got the best headlines. In contract negotiations nothing really matters except the cash. In this deal, it's CUPE that's laughing -- all the way to the bank.

christyclark@telus.net

CUPE 1004 Voting Info

Ratification Vote will be held Sunday, October 14th from 8am to 4pm

Information meeting at 10am - Maritime Labour Centre Auditorium

Bargaining Committee is recommending acceptance!
-------------------
MY VIEW
Results of the vote should be available Sunday between 7:00 and 8:00pm.

The tweaking of the mediator's original offer dealt with inconsistencies between the CUPE 15 contract and the 1004 contract. The 2010 Partnership agreement for each union had different dispute resolution mechanisms. 1004 still had a 6 month process in place while 15's was only 30 days.

1004 positions are subject to overtime (winter road salt and sanding, clearing drains of leaves in fall, paving, sewage connects etc.) yet no formalized system existed to deal with overtime. It had been ad hoc.

Compressed work weeks do get people upset, however, in sanitation, horticulture and golf course maintenance the longer days actually result more tasks being accomplished in a work week.

All in all a good deal for 1004.

------------------
Vancouver outside workers to vote on tentative deal Sunday
Last Updated: Saturday, October 13, 2007 | 1:17 AM ET

CBC.ca/bc

VIDEO: CUPE 1004 president Mike Jackson explains how the deal was reached (Runs 3:50)

AUDIO: City of Vancouver spokesman Jerry Dobrovolny speaks with CBC's Stephen Quinn (Runs 1:29)

Vancouver Province

Outside workers vote on deal today

CUPE 1004 Recommends Yes Vote

CUPE 1004 and City successfully "tweak" Foley's recommendations: Tentative agreement

[October 12, 2007 03:28 PM]

Tentative agreement to be voted on by union on Sunday

VANCOUVER - CUPE 1004 President Mike Jackson is proud to announce that his bargaining committee and the City of Vancouver met today and reached a tentative agreement which will be voted on by union members on Sunday.

"We are pleased to announce that we had a productive session with the employer today and have successfully tweaked Foley's recommendations," says CUPE 1004 President Mike Jackson. "The result is a tentative agreement we can recommend to our members."

The parties agreed to improved benefit coverage in a number of areas: accupuncture coverage, increased vision care coverage from $300 to $450, benefit coverage to begin after first month of employment rather than after first six months.

There were a number of other adjustments to Foley's recommendations:

• A joint committee to address the assignment of overtime was established.
• The Olympic partnership agreement was adjusted to include an expedited dispute resolution process and system for assigning Olympic work.
• Areas of feasibility (horticulture, golf courses, sanitation) were identified for the compressed work week committee.
• Return to work agreement includes extention of time limit to return from 10 days to 14 days.
• grievances will no longer be deemed abandoned after 90 days

CUPE 1004 represents Vancouver's 2,000 outside workers. They have been on strike since July 19, 2007.

FOLEY'S RECOMMENDATIONS AND PREVIOUSLY AGREED TO ITEMS.

For more information, please contact:

Mike Jackson, CUPE 1004 President, 778-908-8070
Diane Kalen, CUPE Communications, 778-229-0258

City and CUPE 1004 reach tentative agreement

After two days of discussion, the City of Vancouver and Metro Vancouver negotiators have reached a tentative agreement with CUPE 1004 representing the City’s outside workers. The agreement is consistent with the recommendations of mediator Brian Foley.

CUPE 1004 will vote on Sunday, and the executive of 1004 will recommend adoption.

Details of the agreement will be not discussed until after the vote.

City and Cupe 10-04 have reached a tentative agreement.

Oct, 12 2007 - 3:40 PM

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - A tentative agreement has been reached between striking outside workers and the city of Vancouver.

The numbers are the same as inside workers and other municipalities settled for -- 17 and a half per cent over five years, but the union says the city has agreed to benefit improvements and some other contract language adjustments.

Improved benefits include acupuncture and increased vision care coverage with benefits beginning after the first month of employment.

A committee is being struck to address the issue of assigned overtime, which previously was without a system.

And the Olympic partnership agreement has been adjusted to also include a system for assigning Olympic work and an expedited dispute resolution process.

Outside workers also won't have to return to work for 14 days following a contract settlement, rather than the current 10...that's because many took other employment in the private sector and will have to give notice.

Workers will vote to ratify that tentative deal Sunday and the union will recommend adoption.

As far as Cupe 391 representing library workers goes, the library will be responding to a proposal received from the union this morning and will be looking for a response in return, so those two parties appear they may be making some headway as well.

With strike deal, garbage pickup may restart Monday or Tuesday

Frances Bula, Vancouver Sun

Published: Friday, October 12, 2007

It took negotiators for striking outside workers and the City of Vancouver just over an hour this afternoon to come up with a tentative agreement, which could mean garbage pickup resumes Monday or Tuesday.

"I am relieved," said Mike Jackson, president of Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1004, which represents the 2,000 people who collect garbage, maintain parks, and repair streets and sewers. They have been on strike for almost three months.

Jackson admitted the deal doesn't improve the money compensation that was set out by mediator Brian Foley in resolutions package, but it does adjust the language to provide employees with more certainty about benefits and dispute-resolution issues.

The union executive will be recommending that members accept the deal when they vote Sunday.

The outside workers had been in a bad bargaining position since their last vote Tuesday, when the 1,200 members who showed up to cast ballots were 58 per cent in favour of accepting the Foley package. But a Local 1004 bylaw says contracts have to be approved by a two-thirds majority.

The inside workers, in Local 15, had voted 73 per cent in favour of the recommendations and they went back to work Thursday.

Four community centres and two fitness centres that were supposed to be open today were closed instead, after inside workers refused to cross picket lines put up by outside workers at the centres.

With inside and outside workers appearing to have a deal, there is only one group of city workers still on strike with no sign of a settlement, the library employees.

Library negotiators met this morning, but the city's chief librarian, Paul Whitney, said librarians asked for a "major rewrite" of the Foley package that he said appeared undoable.

The major issue for library workers, who are mainly women, is getting pay equity with male-dominated categories of work at the city.

Foley had recommended boosting 300 of the 775 workers, those with the most complex jobs, up a pay grade in the ladder. But union local president Alex Youngberg said members think that's unfair and they want to see the money Foley was prepared to give to the 300 spread out equally to the 775.

However, Whitney said that would mean the librarians at the top of the scale would end up with less money than librarians throughout the region are getting, since other municipalities are giving their highest qualified library staff pay-grade boosts. That will make it hard for Vancouver to recruit, he said.

CUPE 391 & 1004 SPEAKING WITH CITY

Lines of communications are open between the two CUPE locals still on-strike and the City of Vancouver. Many people feel that the city can hold out indefinitely. One problem. Winter.

Icy roads need salt and sand. The City of Vancouver does not have enough exempt staff to operate all the trucks required to maintain city streets.

Questions regarding the need for libraries in the age of the internet also arise. High School students need books for research. ESL curriculum is housed at many libraries for foreign students. Writers and researchers are also dependent on the assistance of library staff.

Much information is available online but accuracy is still in short supply.

Vancouver Sun reports:

CUPE 391
Meanwhile, Dobrovolny said talks would be held Friday with CUPE Local 391, which represents 775 striking library workers who overwhelmingly rejected a settlement negotiated by mediator Brian Foley.

CUPE 1004
Today's meeting followed a phone call Wednesday from CUPE, Local 1004 president Mike Jackson in which he told city negotiators that the two parties were close to a settlement, said the city's main spokesman Jerry Dobrovolny.

He said he felt the two parties were very, very close and it just needed some tweaking so we set up a meeting today with a couple of managers from the city and a couple of executives from 1004 to sit down and find out perhaps how close we are," Dobrovolny said today.

He said it was not an official bargaining meeting because it didn't include the whole bargaining committees.

"It's just a couple of people from both sides," he said. "But clearly there's an opportunity that we need to pursue with the president of Local 1004 saying it just needs a little tweaking and we are very close. So we are hopeful but as I stressed yesterday, our focus and priority is to get inside workers back to work and get those services restored as quickly as possible."

SOURCE: City Hall reopens for business after strike

Gerry Bellett, Vancouver Sun, Published: Thursday, October 11, 2007

Being Your Own Worst Enemy

Although many inside workers returned to work without having to face pickets this morning at City Hall, some outside workers have ignored their union's statement last night that said members would not deter other members from going to work. The city says a few outside workers set up pickets at parks around town this morning, and inside workers honoured them. The Parks Board is dealing with the matter and could possibly go to the Labour Relations Board. NEWS1130

-------------------
Community Centre staff did receive warnings today not to step outside alone if 1004 members were loitering outside.

Supposedly a few 1004 members have decided to harass CUPE 15 members who work in parks. The 1004 members were in an altered state and threatening staff doing their job. Others decided to have coffee breaks outside the entrances of community centres on the east side of town.

Again, a small group of YAHOOS ruin the reputation of an entire union group. Great work guys!!
--------------------
Vancouver Sun reported:
He (Jerry Dubrovolny) said there were a few incidents of Local 1004 picket lines interfering with inside workers, mostly staff employed by the park board.

"It's a constantly changing situation but the parks board is pursuing it and will take what ever action is necessary which may include going the the Labour Relations Board [for an order to stop picketing]," he said.

CUPE 15 Final Strike Pay Info

SOURCE: CUPE Strike Hotsheet # 37

Friday October 19:

• Final Strike Pay Cheque will be available at CUPE 15 Strike Headquarters
• $100.00 hold back for those who picketed 10 days or more days will be included

jobs@vancouver.ca

We're looking for people who share a commitment to community, and the lives of our citizens, who share our values of responsiveness, excellence, fairness, integrity, leadership and learning.

If you want to:

• enhance the well-being of the community
• protect the environment
• provide quality service
• be part of a challenging, safe, healthy and rewarding workplace...

Consider joining our team.

City & CUPE 1004 Meet Thursday Oct. 11

According to GlobalTV at 6:00pm the City and CUPE 1004 brokered a deal to meet tomorrow.

The deal: the City will meet with CUPE 1004 executives in exchange for no pickets at City Hall and other 1004 non-designated work sites.

No CUPE 1004 pickets outside City Hall as CUPE 15 returns to work

[October 10, 2007 05:40 PM]

VANCOUVER - There will be no CUPE 1004 pickets or "welcoming party" outside City Hall tomorrow morning as CUPE 15 members return to work. CUPE 1004 will not be making any media comment until after they have had an opportunity to meet with the employer.

City Council Approves All 3 Deals

Council votes to accept mediator’s recommendations

Vancouver City Council voted today to accept mediator’s Brian Foley’s non-binding recommendations for a new contractual agreement with the City’s workers. Council also voted to approve the funding recommended for library workers, should the Vancouver Library Board also accept the mediator’s recommendations during its vote later this afternoon.

“The City of Vancouver’s immediate priority is to facilitate the return to work of CUPE 15 members and the restoration of related services,” states Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan. “I would like to thank the citizens of Vancouver for their ongoing civility and patience during this strike.”

CUPE 15 represents about 3,500 of city’s “inside” workers, responsible for customer services provided at City Hall, such as processing development permits and licenses, as well as providing services at a variety of city-owned and operated venues, such as theatres and daycares. Some civic sites rely on a mixture of inside and “outside” workers, represented by CUPE 1004.

“We’re very pleased that a clear majority of our workers voted in favour of the recommendations. Our city managers need to work with our returning staff to determine a schedule for which services can be restored and when,” said City spokesperson Jerry Dobrovolny. “We’ll provide that information as soon as possible, and will work to keep everyone informed during this evolving process.”

People are encouraged to visit the city’s website for ongoing updates on related to city services. SOURCE: vancouver.ca

Update: City votes in favour of mediator proposals

Wednesday, October 10 - 02:25:00 PM Reshmi Nair

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The City of Vancouver has accepted the mediated deals proposed to end the civic workers strike. Council approved all three deals, although only one has been accepted by union members.

Inside workers could be back to work by as early as tomorrow to deal with things like building permits, inspections and by-law enforcement. Management will outline which services could be restored, and when.

But they still have to take into consideration the fact that outside workers and library workers have not accepted mediated deals, and could still be picketing.