CUPE Says City Pushing for Strike
Prince George, B.C. –The President of the City’s CUPE local 399, Gary Campbell, says it looks like the City is trying to push CUPE members into a strike.
Locals 1048 and 399 have issued a release this morning, in response to the City’s release of earlier this week, which said the P.G. CUPE members are among the highest paid in the province.
Janet Bigelow, president of CUPE 1048 says the comparison wasn’t fair, "When you're in bargaining you can't predict the future, but when CUPE and the City negotiated the last collective agreement those were the wage increases both parties agreed were fair and reasonable. And they were in line with settlements in many communities across the north."
Bigelow says there seems to be a double standard at City Hall “From 2008 to 2012 the City Manager's salary increased by 27 percent which is significantly higher than any CUPE member's wage increase. It's tempting to spin the numbers to your advantage, but at the end of the day that isn't getting us closer to an agreement, and that's what citizens want."
Campbell adds “It looks like the City would rather take a confrontational and divisive approach rather than meaningful discussions that would lead to an agreement that's fair and reasonable for taxpayers and civic workers alike."
The City and Unions have been trying to negotiate a contract since January of 2013. The City has offered a three year deal of 0, 0 and 2%. The Union has a strong mandate to strike if necessary.
"Taxpayers should also be concerned that the City has hired an expensive, high-profile lawyer from Vancouver to conduct negotiations on their behalf” says Campbell, “the longer this dispute goes on the more she is paid."
Bigelow says she remains optimistic "We remain hopeful that we will be able to reach an agreement without any disruption in services. We remain committed to negotiating a fair and reasonable contract for our members and we hope that doesn't involve job action."
CUPE is required to provide 72 hours notice to the BC Labour Board prior to launching any job action.
Comments
They are ALL paid too damn much in my opinion. Trim a lot of fat, starting right at the top and work down.
I’m not a big fan of unions, however since the city would like to bargin in the media: The union needs to serve notice and go on stike. I belive The Mean Girls on the 5th Floor think there’s no way that will happen.
“Bigelow says there seems to be a double standard at City Hall âFrom 2008 to 2012 the City Manager’s salary increased by 27 percent which is significantly higher than any CUPE member’s wage increase.”
Two wrongs do not make a right. Besides, the City manager is one person. CUPE has hundreds of members at the City.
0, 0, and 2 is more than fair. Take it.
I agree 0, 0, 2 is a fair deal. Especially since Bigelow was so generous to put her foot in her mouth by saying “When you’re in bargaining you can’t predict the future”……
Well, they are in bargaining now, so why are they trying to predict the future by saying 0,0,2 is not enough …. especially the 2% part.
We can, however, do a retroactive report because that is what has flowed under the bridge. I would think that where they are placed against others is a fact that can be checked. That is a pretty convincing argument in my world.
Where are we with “essential services” such as snow plowing, watermain breaks, etc. …. not that we are getting that done anyway.
Let them go on strike. If they go on strike for one week, that’s 2% right there.
Let them go on strike for two weeks and they’re out 4%.
Honestly, if they’re not going to clear the snow until we’re at 12cm, it’ll be a long time before anyone notices that the City is on strike.
“Taxpayers should also be concerned that the City has hired an expensive, high-profile lawyer from Vancouver to conduct negotiations on their behalfâ says Campbell, âthe longer this dispute goes on the more she is paid.”
I notice he doesnt mention that the same is true for the union negotiators.
0-0-2% is an insult…a COLA clause is the answer…they may as well strike because the city is pushing them to accept a substandard contract.
To correct you interceptor; please have your facts. The union doesn’t mention that they have a high profile lawyer from anywhere, because they do not hire lawyers or any one else for that matter from outside the bargaining unit. They use the members from the bargaining unit (399 & 1048) and they have the rep. from this region. Zero dollars come from taxes to pay for “fancy” negotiators or lawyers. This is on public record… that’s how I found it.
If the two sides spent as much time at the table negotiating as they are wasting more of our tax dollars with silly surveys and public attack campaigns through the media, then they would likely have a deal.
Despite the reference to wages from what I hear that isn’t the major issue. Contract concessions around job security and job descriptions, sick days, holiday accrual, etc. seem to be the stumbling block.
When you look at just the wage issue, the difference between 0 and 1% is just a few hundred bucks a year for the average employee so I am sure they would accept 0, 0, & 2 if they also didn’t have to accept major stripping of their contract language.
Where is the leadership from mayor and council to get this deal done? They are awfully quiet hiding behind the manager who seems to love the media spotlight.
The door is open if the union feels that they need more than 0-0-2, they just might have to give a little back in another area like the bloated sick pay. This is no different than the provincial workers who settled for net zero and I don’t see any of them at the food bank.
To correct you Hello? -the city workers are paid from taxes- a portion of this goes to union dues and a portion of that pays the negotiators on the union side:ergo the taxpayers fund both sides.
The City should allow us to take all our garbage to the abandoned City property on the East End of 4th Avenue. In addition they should position dumpsters at the Quinn St. transfer Station that way, when the strike is over, they can take it all to the land fill.
Forcing everyone to go to the Foothills Regional Landfill and pay $6.00 is BS. At the very least they should get rid of the $6.00 fee for the duration of the strike.
STRIKE ????? Whooooo ?? City Workers??? Who are they?? They actually have workers?? Do they work??? What do they do??? How come we never see them at Timmy”s ??/ ohhh yeahhh they are at $tarbuck$ because they can afford to have better coffee than homeowners who are fleeced
Thanks for that clear explanation of how “follow the money” works, lonesome sparrow.
Too many people have problems with that simple process, especially union people.
The same goes for any union, public or private. The money comes from the end user of the product or service provided.
Union negotiators are highly paid individuals ; check out their C/A (CSU); it is like dying and going to heaven 100x over; city workers have enjoyed raises over the years while other public sectors workers received zeros.
Since when has labour negotiations been fair and reasonable?
The whole idea is to pillage the other party to the contract: the union so members make more money (bigger union fees) and the employer trying to save expending those dollars.
When there is a threat of strike or an actual strike, that is tantamount to extortion.
Extortion (also called shakedown, outwresting, and exaction) is a criminal offense of obtaining money, property, or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime groups. The actual obtainment of money or property is not required to commit the offense.
Remember, the last time they did not accept a 3,3,3 package because they wanted a 3,3,4 package.
What they got instead was a 3,3,3,3,3,3 package …….ergo, they are amongst the best paid in the province, thanks to the Kinsley Council and Paul Administration.
So, hope the lawyer will prevent the City from making the same mistake again and offering them something like a 0,0,0,3 contract. Stupider things have happened.
Remember, the last time they did not accept a 3,3,3 package because they wanted a 3,3,4 package.
What they got instead was a 3,3,3,3,3,3 package …….ergo, they are amongst the best paid in the province, thanks to the Kinsley Council and Paul Administration.
So, hope the lawyer will prevent the City from making the same mistake again and offering them something like a 0,0,0,3 contract. Stupider things have happened.
I could post it a third time … :-)
In the case of unions, it is legalized extortion or, more commonly known today as bullying.
But then, the protection by management can also be easily seen as bullying.
It is an antagonistic process. I do not know why people should expect anything different.
Shame on you Gus or are too young to remember people died for better working conditions. All you Wendy whiners out there, if it wasn’t for the union movement your working conditions would be absolutley horrendous.
Bill says in the media on November 23th that the Unions have Faired very well. He also goes on to say that the managements cost of living increase for the past 3 years has been less than the workers….
Well lets have a closer look at some of these incomes. Here are the current directors income increases over the past 5 years according to the SOFI report which is the Statement of Financial Information that is signed off by Kathleen Soltis
William Gall – over 45% or $53,844
Kathleen Soltis – almost 40% or $60,0169
Collen Van Mook – almost 50% or $56,948
Ian Wells – over 30% or $36,809
Robert Whitwham – over 20% or $32,027
Bill Gaal over the past three years has seen his income increase by over 21% far far above the cost of living.
I would like to see the managements rates compared to these 29 city’s.
I wonders what we would find…..?
So what’s your point, Political Justice?
JB….Bill Gaal has been on the CKPG news all week claiming CUPE raises were less than his. I think Political Justice is telling you Bill Gaal is full of……
Whoops. CUPE raises higher.
We the taxpayers spend $42+ million in salary (not sure if that includes benefits) to City staff. Personally, I don’t care what Bill Gaal makes.
I’ve gotten offers for tens of thousands a year more to live/work places other than PG. I was born here, so I’m willing to ignore that opportunity to live in a place I love.
Realize that for every “overpaid” city worker, there’s another who’s taking a pay cut to do something they believe in, to try make a difference in the local sphere.
Those of you who think 0/0/2 is sufficient, well, it just makes that much less incentive for those of us who could make more, who are more capable than we’re paid for, to stay, leaving the schmucks who are, indeed, overpaid.
Shame on the Administration for cherry-picking one particular job class.
Political Justice
Are these people doing the same jobs and have the same responsibilities as they did 5 years ago? Although I am not familiar with all those mentioned I do know that Soltis was acting city manager which would have affected her compensation. What about the others?
It would be like quoting the salary of a first year apprentice from 5 years ago…that person has likely seen a 40% increase since then now they are getting tradesman rates.
cityworker- the 16% that CUPE got in the last contract is more than a majority of the people who pay your wages 0-0-2 is more than adequate this time round…if you want more money you will have to give up some of the other perks, banking unused sick days for example.
If every employee could receive the same pay as management with the responsibility levels and the security of a union job then we would have no managers. :)
I already answered that political Justice post in another thread on here.
If PJ cannot learn from others to answer the question you have posted lonesome sparrow, then we have to put them in their place as an unreliable source of data.
soltis’ last salary was as acting city manager …..
wells moved up to head up the planning department+ … an very unwise move, in my opinion, but that comes with a salary jump.
Same with Colleen van Mook … she took over To Maddens job.
Not sure of William Gall and Robert Whitwham. I never could understand what Whitwham’s claim to fame was.
I think Gall is getting too much money. He is in charge of all those pot holes and snow clearing SNAFUS.
Cityworker ….. I understand you dilemma, but it is the height of arrogance for you to think I am going to fund it. That is your own personal decision.
“Thatâs the estimated amount of tax relief Prime Minister Stephen Harperâs government has offered up to businesses in Canada since taking power in 2006 â reducing the countryâs corporate tax rates to some of the lowest in the world.”
http://o.canada.com/business/harper-governments-60b-business-tax-breaks-spark-questions-and-criticism/
Wow, Canada has the second lowest corporate tax rate in the WORLD. But how much of a tax break are businesses, corporations and industry getting in Prince George?
To put things into perspective, according to a KPMG 2010 Competitive Alternatives Study, Prince George would rank 2nd behind Vancouver (#1 in the world’s major cities) with a total tax index of 54.
So the question needs to be asked why are us taxpayers paying so much for city services, when businesses, corporations and industry are paying so little nationally and internationally?
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Rank City Total Tax Index
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1 Vancouver, CA 50.5
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2 Monterrey, MX 59.8
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3 Mexico City, MX 60.0
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4 Montreal, CA 60.3
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5 Toronto, CA 67.6
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6 The Hague, NL 76.1
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7 Amsterdam, NL 76.7
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8 Manchester, UK 77.4
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9 Melbourne, AU 78.9
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10 Baltimore, US 81.8
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11 Sydney, AU 82.8
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12 Minneapolis, US 86.5
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13 Boston, US 87.9
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14 Philadelphia, US 88.9
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15 Detroit, US 90.7
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Yup carry on fighting amongst ourselves while business, industry and corporations in Prince George get “world class” tax breaks!
Last time i checked Harper had nothing to do with negotiations with CUPE, could be wrong…
Example: “With the federal government wrapping up nearly six months of consultations on its long-term infrastructure plan, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) says Canada needs a twenty year plan with predictable funding to fix its crumbling infrastructure.
That’s the message delivered by the Federation today as it released its recommendations on the Government of Canada’s long term infrastructure plan.”
The Feds have not been funding PG’s and other municipalities crumbling infrastructure, why? Download it onto city municipal taxpayers, while at the same time giving business, industry and corporations massive tax breaks. And we wonder why our cities across Canada are massively behind in infrastructure repair!!!
If you think PG’s crumbling infrastructure is the sole result of past mayor and council’s inactions, THINK AGAIN!!!
I bet the city workers have no nut sack to go on strike because even if they did for a week they will lose a lot more then any numbers that they will settle for, that’s why they haven’t done it yet because through out all this they are still getting paid.
Hey Peeple#1, Harper and FCM have nothing to do with the CUPE strike vote. HAs nothing to do with infrastructure or federal taxes my friend. You complain about Gus’ rants but at least they are on topic
LOCK THEM OUT!
Political Justice – The SOFI report’s amounts of income also include the costs of any courses, seminars, travel expenses, etc. that these people incurred while doing their jobs. The CUPE members are also entitled to having any education that benefits the city paid for. Also, how about adding all the expenses associated with any CUPE member trips and education costs to the individual members income and see how much of a percentage pay increase they come up with.
slinky⦠are you a child? Debating with you is like having a conversation with my 10 year old. Where did I complain about gus’s comments?
I cannot take your comments seriously⦠why? Because you cannot read properly, you lack the ability to comprehend, you lack rudimentary reasoning skills.
I am not calling you down, I am not insulting you, I am simply stating facts and truths here. Stop trying to swim in the deep part of the swimming pool with us adults, go back to the shallow end and join the other kids… please!
Sure, I can read the article and then your comment starts out on Harper which has zero to do with negotiating with CUPE and the taxpayers of PG, but in some way you think it all boils down to Harper and the feds not funding infrastructure. Next we will be reading about child poverty
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