local voice january 2013

COPE 378 Convention

DA Townley Success

$10 a Day Child Care

New Member Videos

Get On Board

ALSO INSIDE

Quarterly publication for members of the Canadian Office & Professional Employees Union, Local 378

Local VoiceVolume 8 | Issue #1 Winter 2013

engagement, Activism & Action in Your union, Your Province

3 President’s OPeninG MessaGe by David Black

4 transLatiOns

6 President’s WOrd

7 COPe 378 COnventiOn: enGaGinG, enerGizinG, GrOWinG

8 BC FederatiOn OF LaBOur 2012 COnventiOn

9 vanCOuver GrandMOthers' suMMit

10 da tOWnLey jOB aCtiOn

11 iCBC's histOry and Future Lies With the ndP by Mable Elmore

12 industriOus WOMen

13 LnG: reWards... and suBstantiaL risks

14 POLitiCaL aCtiOn COMMittee

15 $10 a day ChiLd Care

16 WOrkLOad COMMittees at iCBC

17 BC hydrO

18 MeMBer OrientatiOn videOs

19 transit: Get On BOard CaMPaiGn

20 BarGaininG BrieFs

22 FOruM FOr retired uniOn MeMBers

23 BarGaininG units

24 OrGanized LauGhter

Building a Better B.C.

Convention 2012

An Affordable Plan

7

8

15

in this issueCOntents

President’s Opening Message

We talk a lot about politics at COPE 378. It’s not surprising, given that we are governed by democratic principles (we elect our stewards, Executive Councillors and Board members) and given that most of

our largest bargaining units are public sector. When it comes time to bargain, we sit across the table from the government. So politics and the political pro-cess are part of our process and culture at COPE 378. It’s part of our DNA.

In the fall of 2012 we went through a democratic, political exercise within our union and at the BC Federation of Labour. Candidates for leader-ship roles at COPE 378 and the BC Fed campaigned by putting forward their ideas, values, and priorities to voting members and delegates. And the can-didates organized their supporters towards their goals. It’s a valuable pro-cess that is made richer by diverse, active participation from our members.

The events of the last year gave us ample reason to stay involved politi-cally, at both the provincial and federal level. At the start of public sector bargaining Christy Clark and the BC Liberals demanded that union mem-bers mine our collective agreements for any wage increases, to give up hard-won benefits and right to a cost-of-living wage increase. Thanks to a well-coordinated response by B.C.’s labour movement, Christy Clark’s government realized they were playing a game of brinksmanship with po-tentially negative consequences for their May 2013 electoral hopes. At the federal level, Bill C-377, which will burden trade unions with an onerous time reporting and financial tracking process, passed in the House, despite the opposition of groups like the Canadian Bar Association and the caution of the federal Privacy Commissioner.

So it won’t surprise our members to learn we are turning our thoughts to the upcoming provincial election, and envisioning a future with a gov-ernment that values the role of unions and the contributions of everyday, middle-class people. Read on to learn more about how we do politics, in-side the union and outside, as part of our larger community.

USW 2009

the Canadian Office and Professional employees union, Local 378, is affiliated with the Canadian Office and Professional employees union, the British Columbia Federation of Labour, the Canadian Labour Congress, uni Global union and industriaLL.

Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, Local 378, Executive Board Members:President: david Blacksecretary-treasurer: Lori Mayhewvice Presidents: jeff Gillies (iCBC), Gwenne Farrell (utilities), heather Lee (Combined units)accenture Business services executive Board Members: Melanie Greenlaw, nancy de vriesBC hydro executive Board Members: Calvin jonas, rysa kronebuschiCBC executive Board Members: yasmin Carroll, karin Cirez, Mike Ferguson, joyce Galuska, trevor hansenFortisBC energy Board Member: tim Bouzovetsky FortisBC inc. and FortisBC Customer service Centres: stephanie smithCombined units executive Board Members: Colleen Finn, Laurie kirk, keith Parkinson, stephen von sychowski, tim Weigelt, ian Whittington

COPE 378 Communications & Campaigns:Communications director: sage aaronCommunications representative: jarrah hodge

COPE 378 Senior Union Representatives:Brad Bastien, jaime zygmunt, Glen Macinnes

COPE 378 Union Representatives:jackie Brown, Carrol edwards, jack Gerow, Barry hodson, Barbara junker, Pat junnila, sarah Melsness, Bonnie Merriman, Brian nelson, kevin Payne, kelly Quinn, karen rockwell, kevin smyth

COPE 378 Union Rep Trainee Program:trevor hansen, Cathy hirani, stephen von sychowski, ian Williams

COPE 378 Administrative & Office Staff:joanne Banfield, karen Caston, elaine Chilman, Lise Cluff, adele earwaker, yudon Garie, shelley Lockhart, Carol McLuskie, karen Mcrae, kim smith, Miriam spinner

COPE 378 Financial Staff: kathy hill, sandi Malhame, donna Morris, Barbara Liang, amandeep sandhu

BC Utilities Commission Liaison and Legal Director:jim Quail

Occupational Health & Safety & WCB Appeals:steve Milne

Organizing:Georgi Bates

Job Evaluation:teresa davie

LTD Trust Administrator:jim Moynham

COPe 378 Local voice is the official quarterly magazine published for the members of the Canadian Office and Professional employees union, Local 378.isBn 1918-9753 COPe Local 378 voiceLetters to the editor are welcome but may be edited for brevity and clarity. Please contact COPe Local 378 for permission to reprint articles, graphics, or photographs.

address all correspondence to: COPe 378 Communications2nd Floor, 4595 Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C. v5G 1j9Phone: 604-299-0378 toll Free: 1-800-664-6838Fax: 604-299-8211

visit COPe 378’s website at www.cope378.caOr contact us via email at [email protected]: sage aaron

David Black

President, COPE 378

COPE 378 Local Voice vOLuMe 8 issue #1 Winter 2013 | 3

4 | vOLuMe 8 issue #1 Winter 2013 COPE 378 Local Voice

The new year is supposed to offer a chance to reflect on the year past and make plans for the year ahead. As the COPE 378 staff and elected

representatives returned to the office on January 2nd, I took a minute to think about 2012 and all the busy-ness it contained. On top of putting on a successful and engaging local convention and participating actively in the BC Federation of Labour convention last fall, we had bargaining and job action at a range of units, from TWPP to ICBC to AMS Security.

This past year also provided political challenges, primarily in the form of federal Conservative MP Russ Hiebert’s anti-union Bill C-377, which unfortunately passed late in the year. The silver lining is that the C-377 fight gave COPE 378 members a chance to take on some on-the-ground political work. Many members met with their Conservative MPs to share their concerns about the potential privacy issues and the way the bill unfairly applies redundant and onerous financial report-ing systems on unions while forcing the government to set up an expensive bureaucracy to administer it.

That kind of engagement will be needed more than ever in the coming year because, looking ahead, one of our union’s most important challenges in 2013 is the provincial election.

COPE 378 has a long history as a political organiza-tion. Many of our members are impacted by govern-ment policy. Under our current BC Liberal government, those working at crown corporations and government contractors have seen the ranks of average employees dwindle due to layoffs and contracting-out and are now

struggling under growing workloads, being asked to do more with less. The government’s complete inability to manage the economy has put some of our largest em-ployers and most important provincial institutions – BC Hydro and ICBC – in jeopardy.

While pressure from groups like COPE 378 has re-cently forced the government to backtrack on some of its more damaging policies, such as the Hydro “self-suf-ficiency” requirement (which, in fact, was an irrespon-sible over-inflation of need), they are still directing our crown utility to subsidize private power companies by buying power at a rate the market wouldn’t bear.

Your union’s Political Action Committee is already hard at work encouraging members to get active and connecting those activists with constituencies where they can volunteer on the election. To date they’ve signed up over 130 members, but there is still work to do and we can’t take anything for granted.

So for the next few months, until May 14, I ask you to join me in turning your thoughts to the upcoming provincial election. There are many different, but im-portant, roles you can fill with whatever time you have available. Let’s make sure that in just a few months, B.C. will at long last have a practical progressive government that cares more for people than corporations.

David Black along with Nancy de Vries and

Jeremy Drew meeting with MP Dick Harris on C-377

David Black

(on left)

Making Plans for the year aheadPresident’sWOrd

By david BLaCk, President


COnventiOns

COPe 378 Convention: engaging, energizing, Growing

From Thurs-day, Novem-ber 15 to Sat-

urday, November 17, 2012, COPE 378 delegates met in Vancouver for the union’s third convention.

“The theme of our convention is Engaging, Energiz-ing, Growing. It’s both a direction for the union lead-ership, and call to action aimed at our members,” said President David Black on the first day. “We are working on new ways of engaging you, our members, imparting you with the skills and energy you need to be effec-tive advocates in the workplace. We are also working on growing our ranks: growing both the numbers of job stewards we have, and workplaces we represent.”

For many first-time delegates it was a first opportu-nity to hear speakers like the Presidents of the BC Fed-eration of Labour, Canadian Labour Council, and COPE-SEPB National, as well as NDP Leader Adrian Dix. It was also a first time for many to get up at a microphone and speak in front a room of more than 200 people.

One policy resolution that passed overwhelmingly was a resolution to ensure that new job stewards re-ceive orientation for their specific collective agreement within three months of being approved as a steward.

A new delegate from ICBC added her voice in sup-port of the resolution and recounted her experience as a new member. “I didn’t have much knowledge about unions until I experienced a personal challenge myself …I was so afraid of losing my job. I didn’t know I had this kind of protection. The union environment is so nice that coworkers are like brothers and sisters.”

COPE 378’s committees each got a chance to de-liver reports on their activities over the past three years and their recommendations for moving forward. For example, the Health and Safety Committee reported on the major issues of the past term, including the chal-lenges dealing with WorkSafeBC leadership that has tended to favour employers.

Committee Chair Gwenne Farrell mentioned in par-ticular the watering-down of Grant’s Law, which was designed to protect late-night retail workers. “Employee lobby groups,” she pointed out, “have applied significant pressure to the government…you look at places like pri-vate liquor stores, convenience stores like Mac’s, 7-11. To them, it was too expensive for them to ensure their workers were safe…To me, that’s appalling.”

On Friday afternoon, COPE 378 convention delegates broke into workshop sessions to have more in-depth training and discussion in particular areas, including po-litical action, how to deliver the new member orientation materials in worksites, techniques for connecting and communicating with members in your workplace, and getting involved with external campaigns to organize new worksites or advance community issues.

On the last day of convention delegates elect-ed Vice-Presidents from among the Executive Board members. The three incumbent Vice-Presidents were returned to their positions – Gwenne Farrell (Utilities), Heather Lee (Combined Units) by re-election, and Jeff Gillies (ICBC) by acclamation.

“The theme of our convention is Engaging, Energizing, Growing. It’s both a direction for the union leadership, and call to action aimed at our members,” – David Black

E X E C U T I V E C O U N C I L R E P O R T

Engaging, Energizing, Growing






Convention 2012


BC Federation of Labour 2012 Convention: Building a Better B.C.COnventiOns

The November 2012 BC Federation of Labour Con-vention was its biggest ever, with over 1,200 union members from across B.C. attending the week-

long event in Vancouver.BC Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair set

the tone, kicking off the Monday morning with a rousing speech that covered a range of topics from public sec-tor bargaining to migrant worker exploitation to health and safety issues in the workplace.

Overall he emphasized that we as the labour move-ment can be more effective when we work together and are more inclusive, including working in solidarity with unions internationally.

“Around the world workers are being attacked and they are fighting back,” Sinclair said, “We are stronger when we stand and fight together.”

Inspiring speeches were delivered through the week by author Linda McQuaig, BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix, federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, former Parliamen-tary page Brigette DePape, and representatives from the Washington State Labour Council, the Canadian Fed-eration of Students and Out in Schools.

COPE 378 delegates spoke at the microphone on important committee reports and resolutions on issues from pensions to workplace safety to provincial funding for women’s services.

On the Organizing Committee Report, COPE 378 Board Member Stephen Von Sychowski said, “The rec-ommendations of this report are right – we need to

work together and develop a plan for organizing in the new conditions we are faced with…we need strategies and tactics suited to the new realities and we need to work in unity to tackle the problem in a coordinated way and in a way that focuses on organizing the unor-ganized, never on raiding.”

Mid-way through Wednesday, November 28 the convention delegates joined a rally for fair bargaining, in solidarity with striking college and community social service workers. The group marched from the Vancou-ver Convention Centre to the Vancouver Art Gallery, where both labour leaders and rank-and-file workers spoke in support of free, fair collective bargaining.

Several new members and young workers were part of the COPE 378 delegation for the entire week.

For Andrea Foster from BC Hydro, one of her favou-rite parts was serving on the balloting committee that was in charge of distributing, collecting, and counting ballots in the election of President and Secretary-Trea-surer. She added, “In general, I liked being able to par-ticipate in the resolutions process; being able to have a say in what the organization is going to focus on as a whole over the next few years.”

Multicultural Committee member and CMBC steward Belinda Lee said her favourite part was hear-ing speeches from both the federal and provincial NDP leaders.

Teamsters Local 115 employee Dawn Henderson said, “I loved going up there on stage as a young worker [during the Young Workers Committee Report].” She added that another highlight of the week for her was when the elections were happening, “It was very excit-ing – the candidates came into our caucus meeting and we got to ask them almost one-on-one questions.”

Over 1,200

delegates

attended

NOVEMBER 2012

Working together to face today's challenges


Grandmothers'

Tribunal in

Toronto and

Vancouver.

VAnCOUVER in

SEPTEMBER 2013

In the seven years since the Stephen Lewis Foundation began their Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign in sub-Saharan Africa, the Foundation, and the grand-

mothers, have worked hard to halt the spread of HIV and AIDS in their communities. They have been successful but, more recently, have faced troubling setbacks.

The demographic of older women in sub-Saharan Africa stands out like a bruised and battered thumb. Their adult children’s generation has been ravaged by AIDS, which forces these women to care for their chil-dren’s children. Their livelihoods are modest and for many, their claims on their children’s land is threatened. When the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign started in 2006 Canadian grandmothers connected with their African counterparts to learn about their lives and to take their stories back to Canada and advocate for help. The campaign has done well, bringing millions of dollars to over 300 grassroots organizations. Statis-tics indicated this help was making a difference – HIV and AIDS infection rates were stalling and communities began to knit back together.

But the global recession of 2008 hit charities hard. The Foundation watched as other global aid organiza-tions were forced to leave many communities due to lack of funding. The Foundation has held on, but has seen contributions diminish. This has forced difficult and sometimes unimaginable decisions among caregiv-ers, such as determining who among their patients will continue to receive medication.

Additionally, AIDS has fallen off the media stage and global attention has wandered away from the pandem-ic. The feeling of crisis has lessened, but the reality has not. In western countries, HIV and AIDS medication is saving lives. That is not always the case in sub-Saharan Africa where money for medication is much more dif-ficult to come by.

to wake the world up once again to the realities of the pandemic in africa, the stephen Lewis Founda-

tion will be hold-ing a Grandmothers' tribunal in toronto and vancouver in september of 2013. The Tribunal will be in Vancouver at UBC in late May or early June.

This Tribunal will embark on a fact-finding mission to bring to light the challenges facing these women and their grandchildren. It will give African grandmothers the chance to publicly tell their stories, to raise awareness and support, and to help propose the changes needed to make a real and lasting difference for their communi-ties and in the global fight against HIV and AIDS.

The Tribunal will investigate the lack of access to healthcare, evidence of property grabbing from the relatives of male family members (men are often given legal preference to land ownership), sexual violence faced by women young and old, the difficulty of ob-taining food and housing and the barriers to education for the grandchildren. Participants will also hear about social norms that often exclude the grandmothers from decision-making roles.

Based on the grandmothers’ evidence, the Tribu-nal–made up of leaders in the legal profession, African community-based organizations and members of the international community–will make suggestions for the legal, social and health care reforms needed to chart a path to a brighter future.

COPE 378 will keep our members up-to-date with the event details and the Tribunal outcomes.

african Grandmothers' tribunal

stePhen LeWis

FOundatiOn

7 YeARS


two Weeks of job action at d.a. townley Lead to agreement

Employees at D.A. Townley and Associates were one of the first groups of former COPE 15 members to go into bar-gaining as part of the COPE 378 local. A different structure,

a bigger union and a different union representative meant big changes for a group of employees who had been union mem-bers for over 40 years. It was important to ensure the member-ship understood the new bargaining processes and was able to give feedback and input.

Bargaining began in 2011 upon the expiry of the collec-tive agreement. The bargaining committee was determined to achieve certain goals identified as priorities by the membership, including a reasonable wage increase. Unfortunately, when the discussion turned to monetary issues, the employer tabled offers that had zero per cent increases in the first two years.

We knew this proposal was significantly less than other union-ized workers in the sector had received in recent bargaining, so we met with our members and sought a strike vote to pressure the employer to come back to the table with a fair offer that would have at least kept our members up with the rate of inflation. The members at D.A. Townley gave us a strong and steadfast strike vote of 96 per cent, but the employer refused to move off its position of zero per cent in the first two years.

In an attempt to bypass the union’s elected bargaining com-mittee, the employer released their final offer to employees di-rectly. However, the union’s members were not impressed and decided to respond by engaging in limited job action. The job ac-tion took some of the lessons learned by the union in the ICBC strike and used tactics including an overtime ban, restrictions on carrying out some specific duties, and keeping an entire depart-ment out for a week.

Members stood together and after two weeks of job action, the employer called the bargaining committee back to the table and proposed reasonable wage increases in each year of a four year deal, retroactive to January 2011. They also agreed to im-provements, including some around compassionate care leave, statutory holiday coverage for temporary employees, and pro-tections for workers in case of technological change.

This rare and targeted job action illustrated how, by sticking together and using new strategies for getting a fair agreement, the employees at D.A. Townley won a fair agreement that recognizes the value of their work. They can now go back to providing the high quality service to their clients that they have always done.

At the writing of this article, the bargaining committee has reached a tentative agreement and will be voting on the proposal in mid-January.

By GLen MaCinnes, uniOn rePresentative

BarGaininGsuCCess

After a protracted round of bargaining with the pension and benefit administrator D.A. Townley and Associates, and two weeks of job action, the 40 COPE 378 members were able to reach a fair collective agreement.

WaGe inCreases retroactive to jan.1, 2011of 1%, 1%, 2% and 2%

2011 201420132012

OvertiMe

Greater choice for employees to

elect how to be compensated for

overtime payments

a FOur year deaL from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 201444y

ea

r d

ea

L

è No change to the four day work week schedule

without mutual agreement

è Compassionate Care Leave provisions

è Carry over to the next year allowed for unused

portion of Health Spending Account

è employer to advance regular salary while awaiting approval of weekly indemnity claim

è Temporary employees to be covered by

statutory holiday provisions

è employer to provide three month notice to union of technological change or procedural change that may result in displacement or redundancy

è Employer to provide training without loss of pay

either by the Employer or by an outside agency

if technological or procedural changes occur

that results in a position(s) becoming redundant

è inclusion of Family day as a statutory holiday

2%2%1% 1%

aG

re

eM

en

t h

iGh

LiG

ht

s

2%2% 2%2%1% 1%


iCBC's history and Future Lies with the ndPiCBC

40 years

By MaBLe eLMOreneW deMOCrat MLa FOr vanCOuver-kensinGtOn and OFFiCiaL OPPOsitiOn CritiC FOr iCBC

“For years the Liberals have been telling ordinary British

Columbians to tighten their belts, while they allowed managers

and executives to line their pockets at the public’s expense.”

– Mable Elmore

Mable Elmore

This year marks the 40th anniversary of ICBC offer-ing affordable automobile insurance and quality service.

In 1973, when the first BC New Democrat govern-ment under Dave Barrett formed the crown corporation, the intention was to ensure ICBC had strong front line staff, was able to process claims effectively and keep ex-cessive costs low so ratepayers paid a fair price.

Over the years, as the population of the province grew, so did the number of claims that needed to be processed. But under Liberal government misman-agement over the past decade, the number of front-line workers stayed relatively level, and the manage-ment ranks and size of executive wages and bonuses grew dramatically.

In fact, since 2007 the number of front line work-ers decreased, while there was a massive increase in the number of managers and executive compensation shot up by 70 per cent.

This top-heavy Liberal approach isn’t only seen at ICBC. British Columbians have also been frustrated with outrageous executive compensation at B.C. Ferries, and even B.C. Rail, where, until last year, the CEO received half a million dollars each year to manage a few kilome-tres of track.

One of the worst examples was at Community Liv-ing B.C. where executives received outrageous bonuses at a time when services were being cut for people with developmental disabilities.

It is just one more symptom of the Liberals’ misman-agement of the province and its finances.

For years the Liberals have been telling ordinary Brit-ish Columbians to tighten their belts, while they allowed managers and executives to line their pockets at the public’s expense.

When ICBC was forced to raise basic rates for drivers last year, British Columbians said “enough” to the Liberal mismanagement. Adrian Dix and the New Democrats told the Liberal government that they need to clean up the mess they created.

The Liberals were forced to review ICBC, and eventually ad-mitted they let management levels and executive compensation get out of hand.

But the Liberals still have their priorities wrong, and they aren’t up to the challenge of managing the province and our crown corpora-tions properly.

Instead of effectively bringing management numbers and wag-es back to a reasonable level, the Liberals merely put a band-aid on the problem, and even worse, in-cluded front line staff in job cuts at a time when staff are struggling under caseloads.

There is only one reason the Liberal government would try to roll in front-line staff cuts at a time when we have so many claims to be settled, and that’s because the Liberals are trying to save a few more bucks on the backs of hard-working British Columbians in order to save their own political hides.

The Liberals have had 11 years to show the public that they can manage the finances of the province, and they’ve proven they’re not up to the challenge.

British Columbia needs positive change that re-stores trust in government and makes life better for families and working people. Adrian Dix and BC’s New Democrats are ready to bring change for the better, one practical step at a time.


industrious Women industriaLL

By GWenne FarreLL, viCe-President

On December 11, 2012, the IndustriALL Women’s Committee held its inaugural meeting in Gene-va, Switzerland. IndustriALL was formed in June

2012 when three Global Union Federations merged: the international Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), the in-ternational Federation of Chemical, energy, Mine and General Workers’ union (ICEM), and international tex-tile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGL-WF). This first meeting of the Women’s Committee had about 30 delegates from 16 countries in attendance, ranging from Australia to Iraq, Sweden to South Africa, and Morocco to Brazil. Many of the delegates also hold positions on the IndustriALL Executive Committee.

During its formation, IndustriALL made a firm com-mitment that there would be representation from wom-en throughout this new organization. According to the initial statutes, women must hold at least 30 per cent of the seats on the Executive Committee. While the quota is welcome and necessary to encourage female repre-sentation and leadership, it does create a challenge to many of the unions representing male-dominated in-dustries. However, the goal is that by 2016 all decision-making bodies of IndustriALL will have women in 30 per cent of the positions.

Despite the geographic diversity represented by the delegates, the issues discussed at the meeting held common themes. Maternity leave, pay equity, work/life balance and discrimination came up again and again. What also was apparent was the challenge presented to women involved in the leadership of their unions. It’s

surprising and disappointing that even in industries like

textile work, where up to 70 per cent of the workers are women, there are barriers preventing women from par-ticipating at the higher levels of their union. Therefore the delegates acknowledged that we must continue to push IndustriALL to set significant goals for the partici-pation of women until such time that there is absolute gender equity on all decision-making bodies.

After initial introductions and presentations were completed, the discussion turned to the structure of the committee itself and how the committee can begin to build its agenda. It soon became apparent that this

group of strong, empowered women was more than willing to develop and take control of this active and ef-fective committee. It was determined that the best way to achieve this would be to establish a smaller working group with a representative (and alternate) from each region. The working group, with input from delegates from their region, has been tasked with the following:

• DevelopaprocessfortheelectionofthecommitteeChair and Vice-Chair in order that the election can be held at the next meeting.

• Developaproposalaroundthestructure,objectivesandagenda of the committee which would be endorsed by the Executive Council and their next meeting.Ultimately the working group will be developing the

foundation for the work of the Women’s Committee going forward. I was honoured to be nominated by the North American delegates to be their representative on this working group.

The next meeting of the IndustriALL Women’s Committee will be held in May 2013 immediately prior to the Executive Committee meeting. At that time we will be discussing and approving the recommendations of the working group. Moreover, we will be working on developing our global action plan to address women’s issues in the workplace across the world.

Delegates from 16 different countries discussed many different issues which held common themes...

IndustriALL

Women’s

Committee

Au

stra

lia

, Ira

q, S

we

de

n,

So

uth

Afr

ica

, Mo

roc

co

, Bra

zil

...there are barriers preventing women from

participating at the higher levels of their union...


By jiM QuaiL, LeGaL direCtOr

LnG: rewards… and substantial risks enerGy

New technology called hydraulic fracturing (“frack-ing”) has made vast amounts of natural gas in shale deposits commercially accessible for the

first time. In short order, we have gone from predictions that North America would run out of gas to the expec-tation that there is enough in the ground to keep us go-ing for decades.

The sudden increase in supply and the ongoing re-cession have driven natural gas’ wellhead prices below its production cost. Falling prices, and a resulting de-cline in drilling activity, mean that the province’s royal-ties have tumbled and the budget deficit has grown.

Many see the solution in liquid natural gas (LNG). If you chill natural gas way down toward absolute zero, it super-condenses into a liquid that can be pumped onto tankers and shipped across the Pacific. It can trade globally like oil.

China has its own enormous shale gas deposits but does not yet have pipelines to bring it from its far west-ern deposits to the eastern industrial cities. For now, at least, there is no glut of natural gas in Asia, and it trades at a price roughly equivalent to oil.

That’s an opportunity for huge profits for North American gas producers. Instead of selling their product at a loss at local prices (in the $3 to $4 range per British thermal unit, or BTU), being able to liquefy it and ship it to Asia would mean they can sell it for $14 or more. To do this, they need pipelines to bring it from the Peace River area to the coast liquefaction facilities, and port facilities to load it onto ships. They also need a gigan-tic amount of energy. Liquefying gas uses enormous amounts of energy but creates relatively few jobs.

Usually, producers use a portion of the natural gas itself to power the liquefaction of the rest. The govern-ment has announced that any LNG production in B.C. will use electricity instead.

If just three of the five-odd B.C. proposals for LNG exports happen and use electricity, this will double B.C.’s industrial electricity use and increase our total electricity consumption by more than a third. One Kiti-

mat project alone proposed by Shell would use more electricity than a Site C dam, all by itself.

That presents some serious problems. First: where to obtain all that power. An LNG plant needs a constant supply of energy. Most renewable electricity resourc-es are “intermittent” – they only deliver if the wind is blowing, the sun is shining, or the river is running. For huge amounts of “firm” power, you need to build ma-jor hydro dams, or get thermal generation from natu-ral gas, coal, or nuclear power. If you build dams, you need expensive transmission lines, which are even more complicated to build because they invariably run through territory claimed by First Nations.

The other serious problem is the cost. The price in-dustries pay for power is far below the cost of adding new generation. If LNG plants double our industrial electricity load, someone has to pay the cost of all that power. Un-less the LNG plants pay for their electricity at its full cost, all of our rates will go up – potentially astronomically.

And suppose we go ahead, spend bil-lions building up our system, and China builds the infrastructure to exploit its own gas resources, and there is no longer any market for North American LNG. Some ex-perts forecast that China will be a net ex-porter of gas in a few decades. Then who is left to pay for all the generators and trans-mission lines standing idle in B.C.?

You and me, that’s who. And our children.So my advice to any B.C. government

is to proceed with caution here. We need our eyes open to the risks hiding in the LNG export plans.

Jim Quail

“Falling prices, and a resulting decline in drilling

activity, mean that the province’s royalties have

tumbled and the budget deficit has grown.”

– Jim Quail


Federal issues and a Provincial election

POLitiCaLaCtiOnCOMMittee

By kOrLeen Carreras and jeFF GiLLies, POLitiCaL aCtiOn COMMittee CO-Chairs

Bill C-377In October 2012 COPE 378 sent five representatives

to Ottawa to lobby their Members of Parliament (MPs) regarding Bill C-377, legislation which would greatly increase administrative reporting burdens on unions. Our members joined other union members from across Canada in an effort co-ordinated by the Canadian La-bour Congress (CLC) to talk about the negative impact the bill would have on all Canadians and to ask their MPs to vote against the bill.

Throughout November and December of 2012 we continued to lobby our MPs locally within B.C. COPE 378 members met with another three MPs and twelve more activists tried to set up appointments with their federal representatives but were unsuccessful.

The bill was expected to go to its final vote some-time in the New Year but the Conservatives changed the schedule and the bill was passed on December 12, 2012.

Getting ready for May 13, 2013In September last year the PAC put together a sub-

stantial strategic planning document that incorporated membership involvement, policy development, a com-munications plan, and member education. The docu-ment includes deadlines and targets and is continually updated. We set up a tracking sheet for all candidates of the major provincial political parties in each constituen-cy and compiled available biographical and background information on the candidates.

As with Bill C-377, our members have been eager and willing to help out. We continue to reach out to the membership to identify political activists. To date over 130

members are already active or are interested in becom-ing active for the May 2013 provincial election. To get in touch we’ve used surveys, member-to-member contact, and various training opportunities. We’ve even gained three new members on our Political Action Committee.

We’ve been leveraging external resources by mak-ing sure members know about political action cours-es offered by the BC Federation of Labour around the province. So far we’ve had glowing feedback from our members who’ve taken the training.

The theme of political activism and our campaign “2013 Matters” was woven into the November 2012 COPE 378 convention. Adrian Dix’s speech to the del-egates was met with more than a few standing ovations. Delegates were also able to attend a course on the up-coming election facilitated by the PAC co-chairs and guest Jan O’Brien, Provincial Secretary of the BC NDP.

Moving ForwardAs we look towards the May 14, 2013 provincial

election we still have a lot to do. We will continue to en-courage and cultivate activists within our membership, keep up our member-to-member campaign, and con-nect activists with constituencies. There will be political action courses on offer at the Job Steward Seminar in March and we will continue to lobby all levels of gov-ernment on issues important to COPE 378 members.

But we will only be successful with your help. send us an email at [email protected] and [email protected] if you are interested in becoming involved with the PaC, working on the campaign, or attending events and educational courses.

“Federal and

provincial issues

have kept your

Political Action

Committee (PAC)

very busy this fall

through winter.

We don’t expect it

to slow down for

some time.”

– Korleen Carreras

Jeff Gillies

Members in a

workshop


$10 a day Child Care supports Families and Workers FaMiLies

Worrying about accessing child care is an experi-ence that too many B.C. parents go through. There aren’t enough quality, regulated child

care spaces in the province, and when any spaces are available, fees are usually too high for parents and wages too low for trained staff. It’s a problem that hurts families, communities, and our economy.

That’s why COPE 378 recently signed on to support the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C.’s Com-munity Plan for a Public System of Integrated Early Care and Learning. The plan proposes moving to a system that in which every young child would have the right to participate in quality, early care and learning programs, with participation chosen by the parents. The plan would allow parent fees to be reduced to $10 per day for a full-time, licensed early care and learning program, $7 per day for part-time, and no user fee for families with annual incomes of under $40,000. The plan also proposes using new public funds to raise Early Child-hood Educator wages to an average of $25 per hour plus benefits.

It’s always a concern for the labour movement when workers such as early childhood educators and their assistants aren’t being paid fairly (the current average hourly wage is $16.46 per hour). The issue of child care is also important for unions because of the way the lack of affordable, quality public child care affects our mem-bers who are parents, as well as our larger communities.

This made-in-B.C. plan has been endorsed by in-dividuals from over 100 B.C. communities as well as school districts, municipal governments, academics (UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership has confirmed the plan’s viability), businesses, and several other trade

unions. The plan looks to public systems that have been proven to work well and that in-tegrate child care and learning.

The Coalition of Child Care Advocates acknowl-edge implementing the plan and achieving lasting change will require time as well as a cultural shift in the way we do child care, but they and the plan’s support-ers know that work has to start now, especially in light of the ongoing child poverty crisis in B.C. Child care fees in B.C. are the second largest family expense after housing. In Vancouver child care can cost over $1,000 per child per month.

Implementing a similar program in Quebec in-creased women’s labour force participation by 3.8 per cent. Twelve years later, the system is paying for itself, thanks to the impact of working mothers’ increased purchasing power and taxes paid, along with reduced social transfers.

COPE 378 and the plan’s other supporters are urg-ing politicians to commit to the plan’s vision, including establishing an initial five-year budget commitment and 10-year implementation strategy with annual bench-marks. The up-front cost will be more than worth the benefit to the economy and to parents and children – especially those living in poverty.

This made-in-B.C. plan has been endorsed by individuals from over 100

B.C. communities as well as school districts, municipal governments,

academics, businesses, and several other trade unions...

$10 a D

AY

In Vancouver, child care can cost over

$1,000 per child per month

Visitwww.cccabc.bc.ca

to learn more and find out how to support the campaign


Workload Committees: What they are, how they Work and Why it’s different this time iCBC

By jeFF GiLLies, viCe-President, and jaiMe zyGMunt, seniOr uniOn rePresentative

è WOrkLOad studies The employer and union agreed that within two

years of the new Transformation Program implemen-tation, ICBC will start a workload benchmarking study for job profiles that have been altered or created by the Claims Job Hierarchy. This workload study will result in recommendations for workload standards and metrics: something missing from ICBC business practices for a long time – nearly twenty years.

è WOrkLOad COMMittees In addition to the workload study, workload com-

mittees will also be established. These committees will be made up of two management representatives (but no Operations Managers) and two unionized employ-ees from within the worksite. The unionized committee members will be either elected or appointed through the union. A chairperson for each committee will be elected by the committee members. The chairperson will be a voting member of the committee, and, to en-sure fairness, the position of chair will rotate every six months.

These workload committees will investigate, assess, and attempt to resolve concerns the unionized mem-bers’ have about work volume. They will do so by mak-ing written recommendations to management which serve the objective of ensuring a fair workload in rela-tion to normal productivity expectations and applicable standards for the job.

Workload committees will be provided with perti-nent employee productivity information and/or appli-cable volume standards. Where such standards don’t exist for any particular job classification, the committee may include in its recommendations to management that standards be developed.

There have been workload committees at ICBC be-fore. It’s going to be different this time for a few reasons.

è dataAlthough there have been provisions in the collec-

tive agreement, never before have we been able to get ICBC to give us the full scope of data for the entire Cor-poration. We are hopeful that the workload committees will be given all the information necessary to carry out their functions, and if not, we can grieve this. If we get the complete data by February 1st as ICBC committed to at the bargaining table, this will be a big and positive step forward.

è resPOnsiveThere will be an appeals process which will allow us

to argue benchmarks up the chain of command, all the way to ICBC’s Vice-President of Claims.

Workload was

one of the central

issues during last

year’s bargaining

and, while many

people would

have liked to

see more done,

your bargaining

committee was

able to secure

several important

provisions aimed

at relieving

the workload

pressure.

Many COPE 378 members at ICBC have long been struggling under difficult workloads.

COPE 378 will be assisting the workload Committees

in every way possible, including providing dedicated

support from the office to ensure the committees move

forward in a timely fashion. We’ve heard you loud and

clear – you need workload relief. Through this process,

let’s work on it.


BC hydro: Policy versus Collective agreement BC hydrO

By GWenne FarreLL, viCe-President and Brad Bastien, seniOr uniOn rePresentative

There is growing confusion at BC Hydro around employer policies versus the collective agree-ment, flowing from the increased use of “policies”

to police and proscribe employee behaviour. To be clear, policies are guidelines decided unilateral-

ly by the employer. The collective agreement is the legally binding work agreement bargained between your union representatives and the employer.

It’s come to our attention that recently BC Hydro has been twisting the use of employer policies to broach the area that should be governed by the collective agreement. That is, they are trying to extend the use of “policies” im-properly and by doing so, infringing on your rights to have a say in the contract between you and the employer.

Two examples of this practice are:

1. Meals/Per diems: article 5.10 (b) i. states the following “Employees entitled to reimburse-ment of all three meals in a day may claim up to $40.00 per day without receipts; claims over $40.00 per day must be supported by receipts.” However, the employer decided their “policy” was if you had a meal, you could only claim up to the per diem amount for that meal - regard-less of whether you provided a receipt or not. In some cases we have heard of managers who be-lieved the BC Hydro expense policy only allowed for payment of the meal itself, not tax or tip. We discussed this issue with the employer during the bargaining process and it is now resolved.

2. annual vacation selection: article 14.06 (a) states: “Vacations may be taken in broken peri-ods but normally at least 2 weeks of the year’s entitlement must be taken as a continuous pe-riod.” We have heard from members in various departments who are being told by management the “policy” is that they may only select a maxi-mum of two continuous weeks of vacation. This is clearly in direct contradiction to what is in the collective agreement. We are pursuing correc-tion from the employer.

These “policies” are quite the de-parture from past practice. For years the union and the employer enjoyed a collaborative relationship where these matters were discussed, debat-ed and decided in a co-operative fo-rum. In this co-operative process, the union had the opportunity to make sure your rights and quality of life at work were safeguarded. But over the last few years the relationship has eroded and BC Hydro has abandoned this process. The employer is now making unilateral decisions on mat-ters that affect you.

We need your help. We need you to be vigilant in your workplaces to en-sure your collective agreement rights aren’t pushed to one side to accom-modate these “policies.” If you are concerned about a possible collective agreement violation, please call the union office or email Vice-President Gwenne Farrell at [email protected] or Senior Union Representative Brad Bastien at [email protected].

We need your help. We need you to be vigilant in your workplaces to ensure your collective

agreement rights aren’t pushed to one side to accommodate these “policies.”

Vice-President

Gwenne Farrell: [email protected]

Senior Union Representative

Brad Bastien: [email protected]


GettinGinvOLved entertaining, Funny, Moving… union videos?

How did you learn about COPE 378? Was it when you picked up this magazine for the first time? Did you get an email and click through to the web-

site? Did a job steward take you through the ropes – or are you still a little in the dark?

If you’re not totally sure how your union works, what it does for you, and how you can have a say, you’re certainly not alone. We try not to let it hurt our feelings but we know most members don’t spend much time thinking about the union until it comes time to bargain a new collective agreement or they need help from a job steward or union representative.

That’s okay. We’re here for you when you need us. And we do want you to know more about what we can do for you – and what you can do to make your union stronger, better, and more responsive.

so, we’re pleased to introduce COPe 378’s Member Orientation videos!

The first video, “New Guy Meets Union,” follows a new – and very eager – member as he learns about the services COPE 378 provides, how to contact the union, the role of the job steward, and where to find more information. This irreverent video takes stylistic cues from sitcom “The Office,” and plays with a few of the preconceptions and misconceptions some people have about unions.

In the second video, “Members Powering the Union,” current and former COPE 378 stewards talk about the union’s history and victories amidst shots of members working at a variety of worksites. Much of this video was filmed on one marathon day, during which the film crew visited several COPE 378 workplaces.

The third and final video returns us to the “new guy” learning more about“How Your Union Works.” The video uses fun and quirky illustrations to clarify and make engaging what can be a complicated struc-ture to explain.

You can see these videos at: www.cope378.ca/member-services or on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/378COPe

The videos are both entertaining and in-formative so please take a few minutes to watch, learn and share! w

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How did you learn

about COPE 378?

“New Guy Meets Union”

“Members Powering the Union”

“How Your Union Works”


transitCOPe 378 Gets on Board

COPE 378 has recently signed on to a dynamic new campaign around pub-lic transit issues in Metro Vancouver.

The Get on Board campaign was initially launched by the Alma Mater Society (which is also the employer of two COPE 378 bar-gaining units) at the University of British Co-lumbia. However, it has since grown into a broad-based coalition.

“We’ve come together, from all corners of Metro Vancouver and with vastly different roles in the economy and in society, to tell the provincial government, TransLink, and voters that enough is enough,” said Campaign Di-rector Tanner Bokor in September at a press conference to launch the campaign.

“Our system cannot continue to afford to run enough adequate service, let alone pay for future expansion. We need the province, TransLink, and the municipalities of Metro Vancouver to come together and seek solu-tions to sustainably pay for our public transit system. Transit helps build our economy, low-ers congestion, creates communities, lowers our carbon footprint, and has become in-creasingly popular, so much so that ridership levels have grown to exceed the number of buses and trains we have available. “

The campaign has two basic principles, both of which make a lot of sense to COPE 378 members, many of whom are tran-sit workers, transit riders or both. First, rapid transit projects and major service improve-ments need sustainable and equitable fund-ing mechanisms. Second, municipalities and regional entities need to be given the power of choice.

The relevance of these two demands is made clear by the current funding crisis (root-ed in governance crisis) that is plaguing the transit system. The effect on the transit rid-

ing public has been severe, but the effect on many COPE 378 members, and other transit workers, has been even worse. The kneejerk reaction of employers to roll back, cut, slash, and penny pinch has had a serious impact on the working lives and livelihoods of many transit employees. In worst case scenarios it has meant displacement through layoffs, all while setting back the development and growth of the public transit system, which is ever important to our region.

The campaign’s relevance is also made clear by the broad-based support that they have already attracted, even though the cam-paign has just begun gathering momentum. This support has come from unions (includ-ing those representing transit workers, like COPE 378), student organizations, commu-nity associations, business groups, politicians, and environmentalists.

Working together, this coalition force of key stakeholders hopes to build awareness around the increasing strain on Metro Van-couver’s public transit infrastructure, and sup-port for the need for regional transportation improvements while keeping continued pres-sure on public officials at the municipal and provincial levels.

With the May 2013 provincial election fast approaching, the Get on Board campaign has a real opportunity to push public transit to the forefront as a key election issue. 2013 matters and candidates should have to make a strong commitment to fixing the broken TransLink system if they want the support of transit workers and riders.

By stePhen vOn syChOWski, exeCutive BOard MeMBer

We need the province, TransLink, and the municipalities of Metro Vancouver to come

together and seek solutions to sustainably pay for our public transit system...

Get On BoardA dynamic new public

transit issues campaign

For more information, visit www.letstalktransit.ca


BarGaininG unit BrieFs: Winter 2013 editiOnBarGaininG unit BrieFs

By CarOL MCLuskie and kiM sMith

aMs seCurityAfter protracted bargaining, this unit ratified its first collective agreement in November. Highlights included a flat rate wage increase of between 8.7 per cent to 22 percent, as well as increases for the next three years of 2, 2, and 2.5 per cent.

BCaa ersThe members at this unit ratified a new collective agreement in November 2012. Some of the highlights include: three-year agreement, wage increases of 2 per cent per year, no “voluntary” overtime, increase to first aid premiums, increases to employer-support-ed training.The bargaining committee includes Justyna Edwards, Garry Payne and Union Repre-sentative Pat Junnila.

BCaa sCThe members at this unit ratified a new collective agreement in November 2012. Some of the highlights include: three-year agreement, wage increases of 2 per cent per year, no “voluntary” overtime, increase to first aid premiums, increases to employer-support-ed training.The bargaining committee includes Paul Bachin, Maureen Skibo and Union Representa-tive Pat Junnila.

BC FederatiOn OF LaBOurThe collective agreement for this unit expired on April 30, 2012. The parties have met and have exchanged proposals. Several non-monetary and housekeeping items have been signed off. The parties met again in late January and a general membership meet-ing was held.The bargaining committee consists of Susan Orr, Ingrid Ericson and Union Representa-tive, Kevin Smyth.

BCFMWuThe bargaining committee has met and drafted proposals based on the results of the survey. The parties have scheduled dates to meet in late September.The bargaining committee consists of Jenny Rouse, Vicki Barta and Union Representa-tive Kevin Smyth.

BCGeuThe collective agreement expired on March 31, 2012. The new collective agreement has been drafted and the first pass of proofing is almost complete. Once the new col-lective agreement is signed, it will be posted on the COPE Local 378 website. The bargaining committee consists of Sherry Baker, Karon Hardy, Lorrie Burnell as an alternate and Union Representative Bonnie Merriman.

BC hydrOThe collective agreement for the COPE 378 members at BC Hydro expired on March 31, 2012. Members voted to accept the proposed terms of settlement in December 2012.The new agreement is a two-year agreement with a 1 per cent increase each 6 months going back to April 1, 2012. Other highlights include: expansion of immediate family to the bereavement language, new statutory holiday Family Day and a change in Length of Service increases resulting in a gain for members.The bargaining committee consists of Bojan Bucic, Andrea Foster, Calvin Jonas, Rysa Kronebusch, Sharon Thomas, Senior Union Representative Brad Bastien and Vice-Pres-ident Gwenne Farrell.

BC transitThe collective agreement expired on March 31, 2012. The parties are now dealing with the last of the monetary items. Plans are being made to meet again at end of JanuaryThe bargaining committee consists of: Sal Fullolo, Debbie Yablonski, John Hicks and Union Representative Kevin Payne.

BeaCh PLaCe ventures (BLaCktOP taxi)The collective agreement expired June 30, 2011. The new collective agreement has been ratified and is in the process of being proofread. Retroactive pay for 2011 has been paid. The bargaining committee consists of Sean Behjatnejad, Laurie Farbatuk and Dave Park, Union Representative.

BerLitzThe collective agreement expired on June 30, 2011. The union tabled bargaining pro-posals on December 18, 2012. The employer did not table proposals and verbally pre-sented a rollover agreement. We are seeking further bargaining dates in late January or early February.The bargaining committee consists of Jennifer Williams, Collin Patterson and Union Representative Sarah Melsness.

BOnny’s taxiThe collective agreement expired on June 30, 2011. The employer is refusing to come back to the bargaining table after the parties exchanged proposals in July. The union filed a complaint to the Labour Board and now have two dates set for bargaining for the middle of December. The bargaining committee consists of Cyndi Nilssen-Frigstad and Union Representative Dave Park.

CaPiLanO Pet hOsPitaLThis is a newly organized bargaining unit. The parties have almost completed the non-monetary items and will move on to bargain the monetary items. Dates have been set for late January to continue bargaining. The bargaining committee consists of Anna Stewart, Chere Croteau and Senior Union Representative Glen MacInnes.

CaPiLanO universityIn December 2012, the members at this bargaining unit voted in favour of ratifying a new 4 year collective agreement, with no concessions. Some of the highlights of the

agreement are: a four-year agreement with four 1 per cent increases staggered over the last two years of the term, and introduction of a Joint Early Intervention Program.The bargaining committee consists of Clay Little, Brenda Rovner, Darin Feist, Brenda Myers, and Union Representative Sarah Melsness.

COast MOuntain Bus COThe collective agreement expired on March 31, 2011. As of mid-January, the non-monetary items have been completed; however, bargaining has been held in abeyance pending the outcome of the Translink bargaining.The bargaining committee consists of Stephen Von Sychowski, Ray Manning, Ron Wil-liams, Doug Fergus and Union Representative Kevin Payne.

COastaL COMMunity Credit uniOnThe collective agreement expires June 30, 2013. The union expects to be at the bar-gaining table by March 2013. The bargaining committee consists of Laurie Kirk, Wanda Neil, Emma O’Sullivan, Donna Hedley, Cheryl-Ann Labonte, Colleen Berge and Union Representative Jack Gerow.

COastaL COMMunity insuranCeThe collective agreement expires December 31, 2013. However, this past December, the parties met to discuss protocol issues for the upcoming negotiations and the union hopes to be at the bargaining table this September. The bargaining committee consists of Laura White, Myra Charlton, Sunshine Defrane and Union Representative Jack Gerow.

COraL CaBs The collective agreement expired on December 31, 2011. The employer is considering dates to meet with the union. The bargaining committee consists of Ernie Baliss and Union Representative Dave Park.

da tOWnLey & assOCiatesThe collective agreement for this unit expired on December 31, 2010. The parties have reached a tentative agreement on which the members will be voting on January 15th. The bargaining committee consists of Colleen Finn, Lina Johal and Senior Union Rep-resentative Glen MacInnes.

dOLLar thriFtyThe collective agreement for the members at this unit expired on December 31, 2012. Notice to commence collective bargaining has been sent to the employer. A survey is being drafted to send to the membersThe bargaining committee has not yet been struck, Glen MacInnes will be conducting bargaining for the union.

eCOjustiCeThe collective agreement expired on November 30, 2012. The union and employer are in discussions to set bargaining dates for February 2013. The bargaining survey has been sent to the membership and the bargaining committee will meet to compile the proposals. The bargaining committee consists of Kimberley Shearon and Union Representative Carrol Edwards.

FOrtis BCThe collective agreement expired on January 31, 2012. On November 1, 2012, the mem-bers voted in favour of accepting the proposed terms of settlement, which includes wage increases as follows: 2.5 per cent retroactive to February 1, 2011 and 2 per cent retroactive to February 1, 2012, and another 2 per cent forthcoming on February 1, 2013.Other highlights include: improved educational funding and educational leave of ab-sence, Work Leader premium, and increased vehicle mileage and per diem rates.The bargaining committee consists of: Kari Campbell, Richard Gaylard, Kate Koczor, Rick Meakes and Union Representative Kevin Smyth.

FOrtis enerGy inC.The collective agreement expired on March 31, 2012. The parties are now discussing monetary items. The bargaining committee consists of Tim Bouzovetsky, Darlene Freeman, Norm Stick-elmann and Senior Union Representative Brad Bastien.

hastinGs raCeCOurseBargaining surveys were sent out in October and the union is in the process of compil-ing proposals and setting up bargaining dates. The bargaining bommittee consists of Greg Goulding, Keith Parksinson, Margaret Sykes and Karen Rockwell, Union Representative.

iCBCThe collective agreement expired on June 30, 2010. The agreement was ratified on November 30th by the members and on December 6th by the employer. The bargaining committee consists of Mike Ferguson, Karin Cirez, Jeff Gillies, Joyce Ga-luska, Trevor Hansen, Yasmin Carroll and Senior Union Representative Jaime Zygmunt.

isLand savinGs Cu & insuranCeThe collective agreement expires June 30, 2013. The parties have agreed to commence negotiations in February 2013 and hope to have the new collective agreement settled before the current collective agreement expires. The bargaining committee consists of Sandy Gill, Nancy Barrett and Union Representa-tive Jack Gerow.

kekinOW native hOusinG sOCietyThe collective agreement expired on March 31, 2010. The proposals have been pre-pared and reviewed with our bargaining committee; however, management will not be available until the New Year. The bargaining committee consists of Terry Frank and Union Representative Bon-nie Merriman.


BarGaininG unit BrieFs

kOniCa MinOLtaThe collective agreement expired on March 31, 2012. After a final day of mediation between the parties, with the assistance of Grant McArthur, on December 3, 2012 a tentative settlement was reached. The ratification was held on December 12th and a majority of members voted to accept the tentative settlement. The bargaining committee consists of Dal Dosanjh, Clinton Neal and Union Represen-tative Scott Watson.

LadysMith and distriCt Credit uniOnThe collective agreement expired on June 30, 2012. The employer has demanded a concessionary collective agreement. The employer continues to demand conces-sions and a three-year collective agreement at 0 per cent, 0 per cent and 1 per cent. Negotiations resumed in December under the auspices of an LRB Mediator but were not successful. The membership will be meeting in January 2013 to decide their go-forward strategy.The bargaining committee consists of are Shelly Ricketts, Shelley Jones and Union Rep-resentative Jack Gerow.

Lu’Ma native hOusinG sOCietyThe collective agreement expired on December 31, 2011. The parties ratified and signed the new collective agreement, the term of which is January 1 2012 to December 31, 2016. The bargaining committee consists of Doreen Mayer, Lorrie Sandell and Union Repre-sentative Scott Watson.

Marine WOrkers & BOiLerMakersThe collective agreement expires on December 31, 2012. The surveys should be out before Christmas. The bargaining committee consists of Nancy Batchelor and Union Representative Bon-nie Merriman.

seasPan Marine COrPOratiOnThe collective agreement expired on February 28, 2011. The renewed collective agree-ment that was ratified by the members has now been implemented, with payment of retroactive wages to March 1, 2011 completed. The bargaining committee consists of Dale Gibson and Union Representative Jack-ie Brown.

seiu The collective agreement expired on December 31, 2010. The parties have ratified the new collective agreement. The changes to the collective agreement are in the process of being incorporated and will then be proofread. The bargaining committee consists of Cathy Conley and Union Representative Bon-nie Merriman.

teaMsters 31The Collective Agreement expired on March 31st, 2011. The parties are seeking dates to commence bargaining.The bargaining committee consists of Stephanie Pike and Union Representative Barry Hodson.

teaMsters 213The collective agreement expired on March 31st, 2011. On November 8, 2012 the mem-bers voted in favour of ratifying a new collective agreement. Some of the highlights are: a six-year deal with 2 per cent each year from 2013 to 2015 and 3 per cent in 2016, a $350 signing bonus, increases to pension contributions.The bargaining committee consists of Sheila Hogan, Jenny Herb and Union Represen-tative Barry Hodson.

teaMsters 213 MeMBers BeneFit PLanThe collective agreement expired on March 31st, 2011. The parties are scheduled to meet to exchange proposals on November 5th, 2012. Further dates to continue bar-gaining have yet to be set.The bargaining committee consists of Dianne Cecchin, Carol Cumming and Union Representative Barry Hodson.

teLetheatre BCThe collective agreement for the members at this bargaining unit expired January 15, 2012. Notice to commence bargaining has been sent to the employer and the members have been surveyed. Dates have not yet been set to commence bargaining.The bargaining committee consists of Harry Judge and Union Representative Karen Rockwell. The complete committee has not yet been struck.

transit POLiCeA survey was sent and two focus groups have been held. The bargaining committee will meet to go over proposals and draft proposals.

transLinkThe collective agreement expired on March 31, 2012. The parties met to exchange pro-posals on January 8, 2013. A date has been scheduled for January 24th for the parties to meet again to continue bargaining.The bargaining committee consists of: Pat Keeping, Rob Gladwin, Dave Bunderla, Sara Dhaliwal, Dan Dickhout and Union Representative Kevin Payne.

tree isLandThe collective agreement for the members at Tree Island Industries expired on Sep-tember 30, 2012. A general membership meeting was held in December 2012 and the parties met January 22, 2013 to exchange proposals.The bargaining committee consists of Doug Howard, Hani Dakkak and Union Repre-sentative Kevin Smyth.

tWuThe collective agreement expired on July 31st, 2011. The bargaining committee met and finalized proposals. Dates have yet to be scheduled to meet with the employer.The bargaining committee consists of Linda Lund, Bill Nielsen and Senior Union Rep-resentative Glen MacInnes.

united FisherMan & aLLied WOrker uniOnThe collective agreement expired on December 31, 2012. The survey will be sent out soon. The bargaining committee will be chosen soon to assist Union Representative Bon-nie Merriman.

vanCOuver shiPyardsThe collective agreement expires on February 28, 2013. The Poly-Party unions met sev-eral times to develop bargaining proposals. The parties have met a few times and have two days per week until the end of January scheduled to continue negotiations. The bargaining committee consists of Jim Reith and Union Representative Jackie Brown.

vanCOuver taxi (adBa CentraL taxi disPatCh)The collective agreement expired on June 30, 2011. The employer has avoided meeting your bargaining committee at the table after they exchanged proposals in August. Dates were set for November and the employer cancelled them. The union has decided to file a complaint to the Labour Board. The bargaining committee consists of Bernie Stroh and Union Representative Dave Park.

vantaGe One Credit uniOn The collective agreement expired on November 30, 2012. The union’s bargaining com-mittee has negotiated and ratified a new collective agreement with the employer. The collective agreement provides for a 9 per cent lift in wages over four years with 2.25 per cent payable each year in monthly payments of 1.125 per cent every 6 months during the term of the collective agreement. In addition to a number of language changed, the pension plan has a 1 per cent lift during the term of the collective agreement. The bargaining committee consists of Debbie Mihalcea, Darlene Jaeger and Union Representative Jack Gerow.

viCtOria shiPyardsThe collective agreement expires on February 28, 2013. The Poly-Party Unions met several times to develop bargaining proposals. Dates to commence negotiations in De-cember 2012 have been postponed to January 2013. The bargaining committee consists of Becky Sebastiano and Union Representative Jackie Brown.

WestMinster savinGs Cu The collective agreement expired December 31, 2012. The parties commenced collec-tive bargaining in December. The employer is seeking numerous concessions. Nego-tiations will resume in January 2013. The bargaining committee consists of Rosie Tzortzatos, Shannon McRae and Union Representative Jack Gerow.

yeLLOW PaGesThe collective agreement expired on June 30, 2012. YPG is unionized in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and B.C. First to the bargaining table will be the Ontario local union to be followed by the Alberta location union and then B.C. YPG union lo-cals across Canada (B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec) met in December at the union’s offices in Burnaby to discuss common collective bargaining strategies with YPG. The bargaining committee consists of Traian Moldovan, Tim Nemeth, Patrick Evange-lista, Ken Simms and Union Representative Jack Gerow.

is PuBLished By

Phone: 604-299-0378Fax: 604-299-8211e-mail: [email protected] 1918-9753 COPe Local 378 voice

COPe 378: President david Black Secretary-Treasurer Lori Mayhew

LOCaL vOiCe editor: sage aaron usW 2009desiGned By: dansk design Groupdanskdesigngroup.comPrinted at: Mitchell Press, Burnaby, B.C.

Canadian Office and Professional employees union, Local 378,2nd Floor, 4595 Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C. v5G 1j9POstaL aGreeMent #41267023

More info at cope378.ca


12 – The Advocate, May2011

1. Helps to build solidarity across the generations, strengthens the labour movement, and supports the fight for a civil society and social justice for retired workers, active workers who are 50 or older, and our families.

2. Includes free $2,500 coverage in BC FORUM’s Group Accident Insurance Plan with world-wide death and disability coverage to age 86 (the maximum we were able to negotiate).

3. Entitles you to special negotiated group rates on many products and services, including:

• Home and tenant insurance

• Extended health and dental coverage

• Travel package discounts and insurance

• Professional financial planning and advice

• Income tax services

4. Includes a free subscription to the BC FORUM newsletter, The Advocate, keeping you in touch with issues that affect retired workers and our families.

Keep building the movement – join or renew today!of group negotiations.

Membership dues are $20 a year or $49 for three years. Your mem-bership includes free coverage under BC FORUM’s $2,500 group accident insurance plan. Optional benefits in-clude homeowner, tenant, extended health, dental, and travel insurance.

Members also have access to fi-nancial advice and planning, dis-

BC FORUM is a registered non-profit society for retired union members,

and active members age 50 and over. We are dedicated to representing the interests and well-being of members, their families and spouses.

Membership in BC FORUM allows you to realize the kind of savings on programs, services and products that are only possible through the power

counts on selected travel packages and income tax services. Our news-letter, The Advocate, will inform you about current initiatives.

There are more than 100,000 re-tired union members in B.C. Togeth-er, we can be a powerful voice for the well-being of our families.

Join or renew by sending in the form below, or online at www.bcforum.ca.

Membership Application or Renewal

B.C. Federation of Retired Union Members •#200-5118JoyceSt.,Vancouver,V5R4H1 604688-4565•1800896-5678•Fax:604430-5917•[email protected]•www.bcforum.ca

Name: |__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|

Address: |__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|

Phone: |__|__|__| |__|__|__|__|__|__|__| E-mail: |__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|

Union: |__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__| Date of birth:* |__|__| |__|__| |__|__|__|__|

Spouse’s name: |__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__| Spouse’s birth date:* |__|__| |__|__| |__|__|__|__| DAY MONTH YEAR

q Newq Renewal

I am enclosing a cheque for q $20 - 1 year q $49 - 3 years, orPlease charge my q Visa or q MasterCard:Cardnumber: |__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|Expirydate: |__|__| / |__|__| Automatic renewal?** q Yes q No

SIGNATURE

LAST FIRST INITIAL

STREET ADDRESS CITY POSTAL CODE

DAY MONTH YEAR

* Required for your free group insurance coverage ** Only available via credit card

Date of application: |__|__| |__|__| |__|__|__|__| DAY MONTH YEAR

#

YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN BC FORUM:

BC FOruM

retired Or aPPrOaChinG retireMent

It is COPE 378 policy

to pay for the first

year’s BC FORUM

membership for

retired COPE 378

members with

at least 20 years

service. Retired

members wishing to

have their first year’s

membership paid

by the local should

forward a completed

membership

application form

to the COPE 378

Burnaby office with

their request for

processing.

You can also renew

online at bcforum.ca

1. Helps to build solidarity across the generations, strengthens the labour movement, and supports the fight for a civil society and social justice for retired workers, active workers who are 50 or older, and our families.

2. Includes free $2,500 coverage in BC FORUM’s Group Accident Insurance Plan with world-wide death and disability coverage to age 86 (the maximum we were able to negotiate).

3. Entitles you to special negotiated group rates on many products and services, including:• Home and tenant insurance• Extended health and dental coverage• Travel package discounts and insurance

4. Includes a free subscription to the BC FORUM newsletter, The Advocate, keeping you in touch with issues that affect retired workers and our families.

FORUM is a regis-tered nonprofit soci-ety for retired union

members, and active members age 50 and over. We are dedicated to repre-senting the interests and well-being of members, their families and spouses.

Membership in BC FORUM allows you to realize the kind of savings on programs, services and products that

are only possible through the power of group negotiations.

Membership dues are $20 a year or $49 for three years. Your mem-bership includes free coverage un-der BC FORUM’s $2,500 group accident insurance plan. Optional benefits include homeowner, ten-ant, extended health, dental, and travel insurance.

Members also have access to dis-counts on selected travel packages. Our newsletter, The Advocate, will inform you about current initiatives. There are more than 100,000 retired union members in B.C. Together, we can be a powerful voice for the well-being of our families.

Join or renew by sending in the form below, or online at www.bcforum.ca.

BC


COPe 378 members work at the following properties

accenture Business servicesUnion Reps: Barry Hodson, Pat Junnila, Sarah Melsness, Karen Rockwell

alma Mater societyUnion Rep: Sarah Melsness

aviscarUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

BCaa sC & ersUnion Rep: Pat Junnila

BC Computerized dispatch (yellow Cab)Union Rep: Jackie Brown

BC Federation of LabourUnion Rep: Kevin Smyth

BC Ferry & Marine Workers unionUnion Rep: Kevin Smyth

BCGeuUnion Rep: Bonnie Merriman

BC hydro (including Powertech Construction services)Union Reps: Barry Hodson, Pat Junnila, Barbara Junk-er, Glen MacInnes, Sarah Melsness, Karen Rockwell

BC nurses’ union Union Rep: Bonnie Merriman

BC transitUnion Rep: Kevin Payne

Beach Place venturesUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

Berlitz CanadaUnion Rep: Sarah Melsness

Bonny’s taxiUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

Burvic holdingsUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

Canadian Freightways Ltd.Union Rep: Kevin Payne

Canadian northern shield/rsaUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

Capilano universityUnion Rep: Sarah Melsness

Carpenters Local 1928Union Rep: Bonnie Merriman

Catalyst PaperUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

CiatuUnion Rep: Bonnie Merriman

Coast Mountain BusUnion Rep: Kevin Payne

Coastal Community Credit unionUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

Coastal Community insuranceUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

College of Pharmacists of BCUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

College of registered nursesUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

Columbia hydroUnion Rep: Brad Bastien

Columbia valley Credit unionUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

Community savings Credit unionUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

Coral Cabs (richmond taxi)Union Rep: Jackie Brown

CuPe 3338Union Rep: Barbara Junker




CuPe BC & LocalsUnion Rep: Barbara Junker

da townley & associatesUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

dollar thriftyUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

ecojusticeUnion Rep: Carrol Edwards

electrical industry training instituteUnion Rep: Brian Nelson

enterprise rent-a-CarUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

FortisBC Customer service CentresUnion Rep: Kevin Smyth

FortisBC energy inc.Union Rep: Kevin Smyth

FortisBC inc.Union Rep: Kevin Smyth

GreyhoundUnion Rep: Kevin Payne

Gulf & Fraser Fishermen’s Credit unionUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

handy PackUnion Rep: Kevin Smyth

hastings entertainment inc.Union Rep: Karen Rockwell

hertzUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

iCBCUnion Reps: Carrol Edwards, Vic Foth, Brian Nelson, Kelly Quinn

island savings Credit union and insuranceUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

iWa Forest industry PPUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

kekinow native housing societyUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

kelowna Cabs Ltd.Union Rep: Jackie Brown

konica MinoltaUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

kruger Products (scott Paper)Union Rep: Karen Rockwell

Ladysmith & district CuUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

Lake City CasinosUnion Rep: Karen Rockwell

Lu’Ma native housing societyUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

MacLure’s Cabs Ltd.Union Rep: Jackie Brown

Marine Workers & BoilermakersUnion Rep: Bonnie Merriman

Master trade OfficeUnion Rep: Bonnie Merriman

new democratic PartyUnion Rep: Sarah Melsness

Open solutionsUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

Pacific vehicle testingUnion Rep: Kevin Payne

schneiderUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

seaspan international Ltd.Union Rep: Jackie Brown

seiu 244Union Rep: Bonnie Merriman

southern railwayUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

teamsters Local 31Union Rep: Glen MacInnes

teamsters Local 155Union Rep: Glen MacInnes

teamsters Local 213 & 213 Member Benefit PlanUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

telecommunications Workers union (tWu)Union Rep: Glen MacInnes

telecommunication Workers Pension PlanUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

teletheatre BCUnion Rep: Karen Rockwell

thunderbird Winter sportsUnion Rep: Sarah Melsness

trade union research BureauUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

transLinkUnion Rep: Kevin Payne

tree islandUnion Rep: Kevin Smyth

united Fishermen & allied Worker unionUnion Rep: Bonnie Merriman

vancouver shipyards Ltd.Union Rep: Jackie Brown

vancouver taxi Ltd. (Central taxi dispatch)Union Rep: Jackie Brown

vantageOne Credit unionUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

victoria shipyards Ltd.Union Rep: Jackie Brown

victoria trade unionUnion Rep: Bonnie Merriman

Westminster savings Credit unionUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

Working enterprisesUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

xylem (formerly itt Flygt)Union Rep: Barry Hodson

yellow PagesUnion Rep: Jack Gerow


RETURN UNDELIVERABLECANADIAN ADDRESSES TO:#200 - 4595 CANADA WAY,BURNABY, B.C. V5G 1J9

PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 41267023

CUSTOM CARTOONS FOR COPE378 MEMBERS

local voice january 2013

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