CUPE NB and CUPE National remain committed to Define Benefit Pension plans. Since the Legislated conversion of the PSSA DB plan ,CUPE commissioned PBI to review the assumptions and that report is attached . Since the Legislation to a we have Lobbied and tried to hold the Gallant Governments to its commitment to reviewing the need to have converted the PSSA plan from a DB plan to a target pension plan.
CUPE is also exploring several options including a legal challenge.
FREDERICTON: The Horizon Health Network will reduce or completely close the cafeteria services as of next month in all its hospitals.
The Union representing the cafeteria workers, CUPE Local 1252, was notified this morning of the coming reduction of services.
“We were informed that 13 full-time equivalent positions are impacted by the decision which will affect 25 workers”, said CUPE Local 1252 president Norma Robinson.Read More
Vancouver – Mark Hancock has been elected the national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Over 2,100 delegates, representing CUPE locals from across the country, elected Hancock to lead Canada’s largest union. The vote took place at CUPE’s 27th biennial national convention taking place this week in Vancouver.
“I will do my best each and every day for all our members across this great country. I am so honoured to be your national president,” said Hancock to convention delegates, after being elected. Hancock, who has been president of CUPE’s British Columbia division since 2013, won on the first ballot, defeating Fred Hahn, currently president of CUPE Ontario.Read More
FREDERICTON – The presidents of CUPE in New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are all endorsing the federal NDP’s plans to scrap Stephen Harper’s unfair changes to Employment Insurance (EI).
CUPE NB President Danny Legere, CUPE PEI President Lori MacKay, CUPE NS President Danny Cavanagh and CUPE NL President Wayne Lucas have all given the NDP plan a big thumbs up, saying the Harper government changes were an attack on unemployed Canadians and seasonal workers in particular.
CUPE says the NDP plan will ensure Canadians who pay EI premiums will be able to get those benefits when they need them, and will go a long way to reversing the damage done by past Liberal and Conservative governments.
The CUPE presidents say the NDP plan will support regional economies and workers in seasonal industries by providing a maximum of five extra weeks of benefits in regions where unemployment is high and work is hard to come by.
FREDERICTON: The New Brunswick Council of Hospital Unions – CUPE Local 1252 which represents hospital workers, released a report today that portrays a poor picture of the situation that prevailed in hospitals and other institutions where food and cleaning services have been privatized. “We are very concerned that the Liberal government is negotiating with a private firm to take over the management of food and cleaning services in the Province’s hospitals” explained Norma Robinson, president of CUPE Local 1252.
“This report has been prepared for Health Minister Victor Boudreau and since the Minister doesn’t seem interested in meeting with us, we decided to release it to inform the public. We believe it is important for New Brunswickers to understand the impact of such a move, especially when it comes to the cleanliness of a building which the public relies on everyday.”
“Our research into the three companies being considered to take over those services, Sodexo, Aramark and Compass, shows a very troubling picture of the quality of the services provided. All over the world, all three competitors have shown very poor track records when it comes to cleaning and food preparation. The latest being in Ontario’s Niagara Health Region where the Hospital Board ended that relationship with Aramark after a major outbreak of C. difficile that caused the death of 37 patients.”
From Left to right: CUPE NB President, Daniel Légère; NDP Leader, Tom Mulcair; Madawaska-Restigouche NDP Candidate, Rosaire L’Italien; CUPE National President, Paul Moist; and Acadie-Bathurst NDP MP, Yvon Godin.
Paul Moist, National President of CUPE joined members of CUPE NB on a hot and sunny day in a Campbellton park for a barbeque and discussion about CUPE’s stance in the election. He took the opportunity to thank members in the province for all of their hard work, saying that CUPE members make their communities the places that they are, and the work they do every day is what makes New Brunswick great.
Paul Moist and CUPE were joined by special guest Tom Mulcair, Leader of the NDP. Mulcair pointed out CUPE NB President Danny Légère’s t-shirt to the crowd, which bore the logos of the NDP and CUPE side by side and read “our party, our voice.” “Every time Paul Moist talks about the NDP he talks about ‘our party’, and that’s the best possible signal that we could send,” said Mulcair.
Paul Moist addressed the assembled crowd, saying “wouldn’t it be nice to have a Canada that talked about a job strategy for all regions, that talked about living wages, that talked about retirement security for all Canadians, that talked about affordable, accessible childcare for all Canadians. Under Tom Mulcair’s leadership we have watched this grow over the last three years. We stand on the shoulders of giants; of Tommy Douglas, of Ed Broadbent, of Jack Layton. This is leadership that all Canadians can believe in.”
At a press conference today, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) called upon Premier Brian Gallant to honour his campaign promises to sit down at the table with groups representing civil servants and retirees to look at alternatives to the previous Conservative government’s pension reforms.
The Presidents of Canadian Union of Public Employees New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador responded to the study of Canada’s Employment Insurance (EI) system with the following statement:
The Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) study is correct in saying that EI needs fixing, but ignores the realities of regional economics and fails to offer solutions that meet the needs of all Canadians.Read More
FREDERICTON: The mandate of the Horizon Health Network CEO, John McGarry, is not to privatize health care but to provide public health care for all New Brunswickers.
“John McGarry is not a private health-care consultant anymore. His role is not to promote a ‘greater use of private health-care firms’ but to deliver public health services”, said Daniel Légère, President of CUPE NB.
“We are very concerned when Horizon’s CEO is promoting at public functions ‘opportunities for the private sector to get more involved in our system’.”
“Health Minister Victor Boudreau wants the private sector to play a greater role in the province’s health-care system and it seems Horizon CEO shared his views.”
“Health care is not-for-profit. New Brunswickers are already funding public health care with their taxes. Why would they have to pay a private company to get a public service? If we go down that path, where will it stop? What will happen to New Brunswickers who can’t afford to pay for private services?”
“The Liberals were not elected on a mandate to privatize health care and to reduce services to rural New Brunswickers. In their election program, they talked about ‘better health care’ not private health care”, concluded Légère.
