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TORONTO, February 29/08 From fighting employer demands for concessions in Sudbury and Kawartha Lakes, to heading off privatization attempts in cities like Welland and Toronto, CUPE Ontario President Sid Ryan is taking on heavy-weight battles on behalf of municipal workers in a province-wide blitz.
This work will continue as municipalities face an increasing financial crunch due to provincial downloading and the unwillingness of the Harper federal conservatives to step up to the plate with funding for municipalities.
We’re seeing more employers trying to wring concessions from municipal workers in a bid to cut costs, but we’re just not going to allow that to happen, says Ryan, who was in Sudbury recently to support CUPE 148 workers at Pioneer Manor long-term care facility. Several years ago, the local negotiated a comprehensive sick plan; however, in a brazen cost-cutting measure, the city illegally transferred the sick leave plan to a third party, Manulife. To make matters worse, the city’s human resources manager Pat Thomson accused the workers of stealing sick days to bolster their vacation.
Ryan shot back with a letter to the Sudbury Star calling for Thomson to resign because he is out-of-step with the Mayor’s program to improve relationships with employees. Now the Sudbury Star has published an opinion piece echoing Ryan’s assertions and suggesting that Thomson, long a chief cause of labour relations problems, is out of sync with his bosses and has been given a short rope to hang on to his job. Under pressure, the Mayor asked his Chief Administrative Officer to investigate whether the new Manulife plan has been forced on CUPE 148 workers.
Along with contracting out issues, CUPE 855, City of Kawartha Lakes workers, have also gone on strike over employer demands for concessions such as an end to benefits of workers who choose to work beyond age 65. Ryan publicly called for the Mayor to meet with him and CUPE 855 to help find a solution to the strike. It was a sentiment that had local residents wondering aloud in coffee shops why the Mayor wasn’t involved. As snow choked the streets of Lindsay on February 12, the Mayor was a no-show at a picnic’ staged by CUPE 855 members and Ryan. Unperturbed, the CUPE Ontario leader led a procession to city hall to offer the Mayor a hamburger for lunch. Shortly after, the Mayor responded and met with union leaders.
Ryan also drew province-wide attention in an interview with both the Lindsay Post and CBC Radio Ontario Morning for identifying that benefits for employees who choose to work beyond 65 is a defining issue for both CUPE 855 and unions across Ontario. Ryan said that the entire labour movement is watching the City of Kawartha Lakes to see how the issue is addressed, and that CUPE Ontario is prepared to stand with locals across the province to fight employers on this issue.
CUPE Ontario is also stepping up efforts to fight the growing trend of some municipal councillors and staff to turn to public-private partnerships (P3s) in order to address their financial woes.
P3 projects end up costing taxpayers more in the long run and cost higher-paying union jobs, Ryan told the Welland Tribune during a visit to share information on P3 models with CUPE 1115, Welland city workers. Responding to a possible P3 sports complex that has just been tabled for discussion by the Welland city council, Ryan presented a draft campaign plan to CUPE 1115’s executive to nip any consideration of a P3 in Welland in the bud.
In what will become a template for the union and its locals to fight such initiatives, CUPE Ontario prepared radio ads to immediately let Welland city council and residents know that P3s are a bad deal. Ryan and CUPE 1115 President Scott Richardson are planning to meet with Welland Mayor Damian Goulbourne as soon as possible. Additional print advertising and lobby materials are in the works if the city is not prepared to back off the P3 model for financing community infrastructure.
Privatizing public utilities is another trend that has CUPE Ontario sharpening its lobby focus. Last week, Ryan met with executives of CUPE Local 1 in Toronto to discuss the City of Toronto’s idea to sell off its subsidiary, Toronto Hydro Telecom. It’s a disastrous move that Ryan says would destroy a vital part of the city’s public infrastructure.
Ryan and Local 1 leaders have been successful in obtaining a meeting with Mayor David Miller as the opening move in a plan to nix the proposed sell-off. CUPE Ontario has also contacted the Ontario Electricity Coalition’s Paul Kahnert to discuss a joint province-wide campaign with locals on behalf of public utilities.
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