local voice july 2011

Resilience, Change and Growth

Message From President David Black

This Green House

Building a Fairer B.C.

Energy Policy in B.C.

Changes in Political Landscape

ALSO INSIDE

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

Local VoiceVolume 6 | Issue #3 Summer 2011

3 EDITORIAL COLUMN by President David Black

4 TRANSLATIONS

6 BC FORUM MEMBERShIp FORM

7 CANADIAN LABOUR CONgRESS CONvENTION REpORT

8 pRESIDENT’S WORD

9 KEEpINg OUR EyES ON ICBC

10 ThIS gREEN hOUSE by Charley Beresford

11 jUAN LINARES

12 hISTORIC ChANgES TO ThE FEDERAL pOLITICAL LANDSCApE by Jeff Gillies

13 REpORT ON COUNCIL

14 BUILDINg A FAIRER, MORE EqUAL B.C. By Adrian Dix

15 WISCONSIN

16 yOUTh ACTION COMMITTEE by Stephen Von Sychowski

18 CLEAN ENERgy ACT NEEDS RENEWINg by Marvin Shaffer

19 STAFF pROFILE: SARAh MELSNESS

20 BARgAININg UNIT BRIEFS

22 ARE yOU READy FOR RETIREMENT? by Lori Mayhew

23 BARgAININg UNITS

24 ORgANIzED LAUghTER

Historic Changes to Canadian Politics

Juan linares

Sarah melsness: Generational Values

11

12

19

In This IssueCONTENTS

president’s Opening Message

On May 3rd, 2011, I stood beside COPE 378 Secretary-Treasurer Lori Mayhew and signed my oath of office as president. I was first elected to COPE 378’s Executive

Council soon after I started with ICBC in 1995, and elected as to the Executive Board in 2001. I’m proud to have played a part in the remarkable changes COPE 378 has undergone during that time. We have grown, we have skilled up, and we have modernized. I’m honoured to continue this tradition of evolu-tion under my leadership.

Our newly elected Executive Council met for a special two-day meeting in May and it was clear we were ready to hit the ground running. We have a potent mix of seasoned, knowledgeable members and energetic, creative young peo-ple among our activists and leaders. This incredible group of people is ready to take on the challenges that face this organi-zation and our membership.

There is no denying we face challenges. The last fiscal year was hard on our operational finances, as you will see from our yearly Financial Report supplement included in this magazine. The report outlines the perfect storm that converged on our finances, of legal costs brought by employers, operational re-structuring, the global financial crisis, and public sector wage freezes. But, it’s not all bad news. Our Defence Fund recently hit a historic $20 million. The contrast gave us pause, and we are looking at ways we can stabilize our operations while pro-viding optimal services to our members.

COPE 378 weathered the financial storm in part because of the diversity of bargaining units that make up this union. To fortify this resilience we must expand our membership. I’m committed to making organizing a cornerstone to our union’s operations. Each department will have a role to play in finding new members and expanding COPE 378’s advocacy and protection. As our union grows, so will our influence and effectiveness.

I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to focus on these priorities as president of COPE 378. Your support makes this work possible and I look forward to the change we will make together.

USW 2009

David Black

President, COPE 378

The Canadian Office and professional Employees Union, Local 378 is affiliated with The Canadian Office andprofessional Employees Union, the British ColumbiaFederation of Labour and the Canadian Labour Congress.

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 Directors: Melanie greenlaw, Lucas MeyerBC hydro Directors: Calvin jonas, Sharon ThomasICBC Directors: yasmin Carroll, Karin Cirez, Mike Ferguson, joyce galuska, Trevor hansenUtilities Director (Fortis, Terasen): Tim Bouzovetsky Combined Units Directors: georgi Bates, Colleen Finn, Laurie Kirk, Stephen von Sychowski, Tim Weigelt

COPE 378 Communications & Campaigns:Sage Aaron, jarrah hodge

COPE 378 Senior Union Representatives:Brad Bastien, jaime zygmunt, Dave Mcpherson

COPE 378 Union Representatives:jackie Brown, vic Foth, jack gerow, Barry hodson, Kerrie Irving, Barbara junker, pat junnila, Sarah Melsness, glen MacInnes, Bonnie Merriman, Brian Nelson, Kevin payne, Kelly quinn, Karen Rockwell, Kevin Smyth

COPE 378 Administrative & Office Staff: joanne Banfield, Karen Caston, Elaine Chilman, Lise Cluff, Adele Earwaker, yudon garie, valerie LeBlanc, Shelley Lockhart, Carol McLuskie, Karen McRae, Amandeep Sandhu, Kim Smith

COPE 378 Financial Staff:Linda Allan, Sandi Malhame, Donna Morris, Bee prentice

COPE 378 Financial Controller: Wendy ham, CgA

Occupational Health & Safety & WCB Appeals: Steve Milne

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.ISSN 1918-9753 COpE Local 378 voice

Letters 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 WayBurnaby, BC v5g 1j9phone: 604-299-0378Toll 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

COPE 378 Local Voice vOLUME 6 Issue #3 Summer 2011 | 3

Translations

of the

President’s

Message

Spanish

French

Tagalog

4 | vOLUME 6 Issue #3 Summer 2011 COPE 378 Local Voice

punjabi

Chinese


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.

OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE B.C. FEDERATION OF RETIRED UNION MEMBERS Vol. 14 No. 2 May, 2011

In this edition:

• Thank you Alice West ......................2

• The real opposition is now the official

opposition ......................................3

• Retired from the job, not from life ...4

• Why the HST must be scrapped ..5-8

• New BC FORUM president takes

office ........................................

......9

• Your invitation to BC FORUM’s

Annual General Meeting ...............11

• Is your membership about to expire?

Renew today ................................1241946512

Please check the expiry date on your label.

Is your membership due for renewal?

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT:

Why the HST

must go

An injury to one is an injury to all

Thousands of people – including

members of BC FORUM – gath-

ered at the Peace Arch in ear-

ly April to protest moves by newly

elected Republican governors to strip

workers of bargaining rights. The

“We are one” demonstration brought

together people from B.C., Washing-

ton state and Oregon.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is

eliminating collective bargaining for

public employees, saying he has no

other option to eliminate a $137 mil-

lion deficit. At the same time, Repub-

licans across the U.S. are demanding

even more tax breaks for corpora-

tions and the super-rich – a group

that is already raking in the largest

share of national income since 1928

and paying much lower taxes.

“Wisconsin, to us, is the front

line,” says Jim Sinclair, President of

the B.C. Federation of Labour. He

warns that the right-wing attacks

on workers’ pay and pensions don’t

know any borders.

“It’s only average workers – both in

the public and private sectors – who

are being called upon to sacrifice,”

adds Robert Reich, former American

Secretary of Labor.

The outrageous attacks on workers’ collective bargaining rights,

benefits and pensions in a growing number of American states has sparked demonstrations by thousands at events such as the “We

are one” cross-border rally. Photo courtesy BCGEU

You can also renew

online at bcforum.ca


LABOUR MOvEMENTCanadian Labour Congress Convention Report

text

David Black

The 26th Constitutional Convention of the Cana-dian Labour Congress was held in Vancouver in May. COPE 378 sent twenty-one representatives,

who joined with 2,500 other delegates from unions across Canada.

Mayor Gregor Robertson gave the keynote address on Monday, May 9, telling the convention that Vancou-ver “is one of the most liveable cities because of our unionized workforce.” He said local unions stepped up to the plate during the recent Olympic Games and he thanked the CLC for its contributions to electing a pro-gressive government in his city.

In the afternoon Charles Ferguson, Academy Award-winning director of The Inside Job, spoke, warn-ing delegates that without change America should ex-pect another devastating financial collapse within 15 years. “The sheer concentration of wealth and political power among a very few people, and the ongoing so-cial and educational distress among so many does not bode well for America,” he warned.

Tuesday began with a panel presentation called “What Derailed the Post-War Social Contract?” which featured economists Jim Stanford, Armine Yalnizyan, and Pierre-Antoine Harvey as well as author Grace-Edward Galabuzi. Journalist Wendy Mesley moderated the pre-sentation. Later, the first woman to lead an international labour organization, General Secretary of the Interna-tional Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Sharan Burrow, spoke on issues facing the global union movement.

On Tuesday evening, over 100 delegates attended a Young Workers’ Forum, featuring a panel including COPE 378 Executive Board member Stephen Von Sy-chowski. The panel spoke about many issues, including the plight of migrant workers and the response to at-tacks on employment standards.

Wednesday’s resolutions on organizing gave the assembled trade unions the opportunity to discuss the need to grow the membership of the labour movement. COPE 378 President David Black spoke passionately to the resolution, calling on the affiliates to put more ener-gies, efforts and resources into organizing.

That afternoon, federal NDP Leader Jack Layton was warmly received by convention. Layton promised that his 103-member caucus would be allies to the labour movement and work to hold Harper accountable. Lay-ton was followed by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “You were at our side in Wisconsin, in Indiana and Ohio

when we called. You kept your promise of solidarity. For that, your brothers and sisters to the south say thank you and we will stand beside you whenever you call, for as long as you need us,” Trumka said.

Later, elections were held for CLC officer positions. President Ken Georgetti, Executive Vice-Presidents Bar-bara Byers and Marie Clark Walker, and Secretary-Trea-surer Hassan Yussuff were all re-elected by acclamation to their positions. COPE 378’s Stephen Von Sychowski was elected to a three-year term as Alternate Vice Pres-ident for Youth.

On Thursday, BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix spoke to delegates, promising that if his party is elected he will reinstate card-check certification for unions.

Later on, COPE 378 Executive Board Member Joyce Galuska (ICBC) spoke in favour of a composite resolution called Justice for First Nations, looking at the shameful legacy of murders of Aboriginal women on the Highway of Tears in North-ern B.C.

Thursday’s panel on po-litical engagement featured Vancouver City Council-lor Andrea Reimer, lobby-ist Robin Sears, and former Premier Mike Harcourt. “The day corporations advocate for the NDP, you can stop be-ing involved in party politics,” Sears said when asked about whether unions should back a political party. Reimer add-ed “We should be proud to make a point and take a side.”

The convention closed on Friday after digital media consultant Juliette Powell’s presentation on new media’s role in social change.

Joining 2,500 other delegates from across Canada,

COPE 378 sent twenty-one representatives to the May 2011 Convention.


president’s WordDAvID BLACK

One thing that never changes is the need to change. And since I was first elected to the Ex-ecutive Council in 1995 it’s fair to say much has

changed in the way this union manages our budget and operations.

We now use independent auditors to review our books. Our Defence Fund is over $20 million for the first time in the union’s history. We own a fully leased building which generates income for the union’s hold-ing company.

Despite COPE 378’s solid financial foundation, we were not spared the aftershocks of the economic down-turn, or from the attacks of extremely litigious employ-ers. Employers have been fighting us harder than ever in the courts and at the Labour Relations Board. We will never back down from a fight when our members’ jobs are at risk, but our legal costs have skyrocketed.

There’s no easy solution. Employers won’t stop try-ing to erode bargaining unit rights. COPE 378’s chal-lenge is to structure our operations, organizationally and financially, in a way that best serves our members.

To do so, we need to ask ourselves serious ques-tions. Members pay 1.5 per cent of their income in union dues. Currently one tenth of that revenue goes to our Defence Fund, as mandated by our constitution. But how many of our members feel their jobs are more secure because our Defence Fund is over $20 million instead of the $15 million it was at a few years ago? Is this the best use of our members’ dues?

I believe we can provide more for our members with the assets we already have, and the dues we already collect. Our Executive Board and Council will examine these issues and bring recommendations for changes to the way we use dues to our 2012 Convention.

I have no doubt about one thing COPE 378 must do to solidify our footing in every way: we must organize.

We must grow and diversify our membership. One of the reasons we weathered the financial storm as well as we did was because of the breadth of our membership.

If we don’t grow we’re either shrinking in absolute terms, or staying the same size and losing influence as the economy and workforce grows. Employers tell us we are competing with non-union workforces who get smaller paycheques and little or no benefits.

The best response to this is to reduce the number of people without unions who work for inferior wages and benefits. The labour movement’s most valuable service to society is when we elevate standards of living for everyone.

We will work from strength by focussing on those sectors we’re already active in, such as the financial ser-vices sector, before expanding to new sectors. Financial employees are unionized in other parts of the world, but not yet Canada. COPE 378 is uniquely positioned to provide our services and advocacy to these workers.

It won’t be easy. No union in B.C. is signing up new members in droves. Organizing new members today is not only harder, but more costly. As with the workplac-es we already represent, employers are willing to spend more to fight us. They have government on their side – the B.C. Liberals have changed the Labour Code to the employers’ advantage. But organize we must.

We’ve already added new members to our union. COPE 378 now represents the Casino Surveillance Op-erators in B.C., the first surveillance operators in B.C. to become unionized. We hope many more will follow.

In my long experience with COPE 378, I’ve learned this union possesses unique strengths. We are flex-ible. We are resilient. We are responsive and unafraid to embrace change to serve our members better. These strengths will allow us to meet our challenges head on so we can continue to serve our members, and to con-tribute to a stronger and more just society.

We are flexible.

We are resilient.

We are responsive

and unafraid to

embrace change

to serve our

members better.

By DAvID BLACK, pRESIDENT

David Black

“One of the reasons we weathered

the financial storm as well as we did

was because of the breadth of our

membership.” – David Black


Keeping our Eyes on the ICBC Transformation project ICBC

Jeff Gillies,

COPE 378

Vice President,

ICBC

In early May, the CBC ran a story about ICBC’s oncom-ing Transformation Program, an issue that has long been on the minds of COPE 378’s members at ICBC.

The initial story reported rumours, mistakenly attrib-uted to our union, that the Corporation would be cut-ting as much as thirty per cent of its workforce due to the Transformation Program. When CBC reporter Eric Rankin came to COPE 378 for comment, President Da-vid Black said this was not what the union understood from the Corporation, but no matter what the outcome, the Program would be closely watched by the union to ensure our members’ protection.

ICBC denied the CBC story, saying their planned staff cuts would only be about ten per cent and that they were confident this downsizing could be handled by attrition. ICBC spokesman Mark Jan Vrem leapt to reassure smaller communities like Kamloops that they would not see their Claims Centres – and all the atten-dant jobs – disappear. COPE 378 resolutely rejects that there is any need to downsize at ICBC, and wants to see the Corporation retract their proposed staff reductions.

The irony was that the story broke only a few days before COPE 378 and the Corporation were to meet to discuss the Transformation Program and the re-sultant changes to the claims adjusting job hierarchy. Details of the Program and the proposed claims hier-archy had not yet been introduced into formal bar-gaining. Unfortunately, at the meeting the union was disappointed to learn ICBC had shared much of this information with COPE 378 members prior to discuss-ing it with the union – committing what we believed was an unfair labour practice.

COPE 378 is not against modernization or improved services at ICBC. Our members are keen to do their best work for B.C.’s driving public. However, the Corporation must manage this change in a way that is respectful of both the drivers who depend on ICBC and the people who work at ICBC, making it the success story that it is. The Corporation has repeatedly promised the union and our mem-bers that they will be good ‘Change Managers.’ While the union is pleased to have these assurances, we want them to demonstrate their goodwill by revising their downsizing projections.

Our largest concern is that the Corporation be-lieves the Transformation Program to be a magic wand. Our members face daunting workloads and as a result the Corporation has seen low employee engagement scores. The Transformation Project is not a cure-all, especially if it is not handled in a way that takes ut-most care to support all of our members through the process. ICBC still has more work to do, especially to address systemic problems which have nothing to do with modernization.

By jEFF gILLIES, ICBC vICE pRESIDENT

“COPE 378 resolutely rejects that there is any need to

downsize at ICBC, and wants to see the Corporation retract

their proposed staff reductions.“ – Jeff Gillies


This green house: Building Fast Action on Climate Change and green jobsgREEN jOBS

By ChARLEy BERESFORD, ExECUTIvE DIRECTOR, COLUMBIA INSTITUTE

The Columbia Institute supports community leaders with cutting-edge research on emerging issues through their Centre for Civic Gov-ernance, and research and educa-tion for investment decision makers on responsible investing. The Insti-tute helps build capacity in com-munities through their scholarship program and selected community capacity grants.

Columbia Institute is a national charitable organization established by Working En-terprises, a group of companies owned by the labour movement, including COPE 378.

These days, amid record high unemployment and increasing financial challenges for working people, we’ve become accustomed to hearing

dire warnings about the threats and impacts of climate change. Enormous challenges with no easy answers. We each want to be able to respond, but our time and bank accounts are already stretched, and we know that it’s going to require action from more than just us.

Green jobs, good unionized jobs in fields that con-tribute to preserving or restoring environmental quality, are quickly presenting themselves as an effective way to make this happen. A new study by the Columbia Insti-tute, This Green House: Building Fast Action on Climate Change and Green Jobs, outlines how local govern-ments can take a leadership role.

Energy use in buildings accounts for a significant portion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada. Energy-efficiency retrofits offer a fast and affordable way to cut GHG emissions, conserve energy, save you money on your utility bills, and increase the value of your home. Not only that but energy efficiency retrofits create jobs – 20 jobs for each $1 million invested. That’s significantly more than the 5.2 jobs created for each $1 million invested in the oil and gas industry. Workers, consumers, communities and the environment all ben-efit – it’s a win, win, win, win situation.

The major barrier is that a typical retrofit – with changes like upgrading hot water tanks, home heat-ing and cooling systems, and improving weatherization and insulation of homes – will cost a homeowner about

$6,000, and most people don’t have that kind of money sitting around. However, at current energy prices that investment could double in return ($12,000) over 25 years and, with rising energy prices, could save even more over time.

Municipal leadership on retrofit financing presents a tremendous opportunity for Canadian municipalities to lead the way in creating jobs and reducing greenhouse gases by making these retrofits feasible and affordable. With municipal financing, homeowners can access loans that will be paid off with small annual payments on their property taxes. Even better, loan payments can be made through energy bill savings. Because municipali-ties are giving loans – and not grants – to homeowners, there’s no net cost to municipalities and taxpayers.

This Green House demonstrates the best practices in retrofit programs across North America while also doing the legwork to figure out the unique opportuni-ties and obstacles for creating more green jobs in each province. With municipal energy efficiency financing, fast action on climate change is within the reach of most communities and homeowners.

Given the financial pressure of increasing energy bills, and the need to dramatically reduce GHG emis-sions across the country, the time to act is now. These minor changes in our homes, supported by local gov-ernments, can have a mighty impact.

“Given the financial pressure of increasing energy bills, and the need to

dramatically reduce GHG emissions across the country, the time to act is now.”

Download the Executive Summary or the

Full Report at www.columbiainstitute.ca


Some acts of bravery are simple. Some are awe-in-spiring. And many acts of bravery are resolute deci-sions which must be made again and again each day.

When a small group of Canadian trade unionists gathered to meet Juan Linares at the United Steelwork-ers District office in Burnaby, they heard a story of stoi-cal, defiant bravery. Linares, a union official with Mexi-can miners union Los Mineros, had spent two years, twenty months and two days in prison. Charges were dropped, but Linares was not released. Only coordinat-ed protests at Mexican embassies in over thirty coun-tries were enough to force the Calderón government to let him go.

The protests were timed to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the explosion at Grupo Mexico’s Pasta de Conchos mine. That explosion killed sixty-five miners. Napoleon Gomez, the leader of Los Mineros, decried the accident as “industrial homicide.” Gomez was ac-cused of corruption, and the Mexican government re-peatedly tried to remove him from his elected position in his union. Death threats followed, and Gomez fled to safety in Canada.

In 2008, Linares flew to Vancouver to visit Gomez during the BC Federation of Labour convention. Upon his return to Mexico Linares was immediately seized and incarcerated in the Reclusio Norte Prison, where he stayed until February 24 of this year.

Linares had not lost his sense of humor. “Napoleon would call me often,” Linares said. “He would ask me if I need anything. I would tell him I want more smoked salmon,” referring to the gift brought to him by the Ca-nadian delegation of trade union leaders in 2010, in-cluding former COPE 378 president Andy Ross.

Linares was tested severely in prison. He was of-fered escalating bribes to renounce his union and Go-mez. The last offer reached an astounding two million dollars. Linares was unmoved: “I told them, you want me to sell my dignity.”

The strain of his ordeal was clear when Linares thanked the Steelworkers and the other assembled unions for their support. “The government tried to de-stroy democratic unions and the working class in Mex-ico,” said Linares. “I thank Napoleon for his work and support. He was only ever guilty of working for Mexican working people.”

The campaign to find justice for Napoleon Gomez and the miners represented by Los Mineros has been long fought. Steelworker Director Steve Hunt said they and other supporting unions had found it difficult to get traction. “But when the Mexican government arrested Juan Linares,” Hunt said, “they made a tragic mistake. They wouldn’t do it over again.” The blatant

injustice of Linares’ arrest elevated the campaign and helped the Los Mineros cause gain international at-tention. Money laundering charges against Gomez were dropped in 2010.

When Linares finished speaking, Norman Garcia, a retired Steelworkers staff representative, reminded ev-eryone that Canadian unions working under the rule of law have no idea of the opposition independent Mexi-can unions face. “Industrial workers like miners face fear just to do their jobs, to go down into that dark,” Garcia continued. “I think it makes them strong trade unionists. Juan embodies an unforgettable lesson: sometimes, like a miner, we have to face down fear to stick with the union, and to see it through.”

juan Linares: A Miner’s Courage

INTER- NATIONAL

SOLIDARITy

Juan signing his

own Free Juan

Linares t-shirts

Bottom Photo (l-r):

Stephen Hunt, USW Director,

District 3; David Black,

President, COPE 378;

Juan Linares, President of

the Oversight and Justice

Council; Los Mineros and

Napoleon Gomez, General

Secretary, Los Mineros


historic Changes to the Federal political Landscape

pOLITICALACTIONCOMMITTEE

By jEFF gILLIES, CO-ChAIR OF COpE 378’S pOLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

The COPE 378 Political Action Committee has been very busy over the last few months. We’ve just finished working on the recent federal elec-

tion, and we’ve been preparing for the provincial and municipal elections in British Columbia.

When the polls closed on the evening of the federal election on May 2, 2011, Canadians and union members received some of the most exciting news in years: Jack Layton and the NDP had become the Official Opposi-tion in Ottawa. After an incredibly hard fought six-week campaign, the NDP secured 103 seats in the House of Parliament, a gain of 67 seats. There were gains in al-most every part of the country, including in B.C., where New Democrats were elected to three new seats. The most important gains, however, happened in Quebec where the seat total jumped from one to fifty-nine. This historic breakthrough turned the NDP into a true na-tional party overnight. There were other breakthroughs as well. For the first time ever, the average age of a Member of Parliament has fallen below 50 years old, in large part due to the election of many younger NDP Members of Parliament. The NDP caucus is 40 per cent women, a first for any national political party in Canada.

Unfortunately, Stephen Harper managed to secure his coveted majority. The Conservatives increased their seat total to 167. The challenge for the NDP is now one of aggressively pointing out the failings of the Harper government over the next four years, and offering Ca-nadians an alternative vision of governance. They have already begun this work by vociferously opposing back-to-work legislation imposed on postal workers by the Harper government.

Essentially, the NDP must become the government in waiting. To do so they will need to solidify their sup-port in Quebec and grow their support elsewhere. This will take a lot of work but must be done to show the rest

of Canada that the NDP, not the Liberals, are the true alternative to the Conservative party.

It seems very likely there will be a provincial election in B.C. in the fall of 2011. Although the fixed election date is for May 2013, Premier Christy Clark has indicated she wants to hold an election prior to this date. Over the next couple of months, the Political Action Com-mittee will be preparing for a fall election. Leading up to this election we will contact the union’s membership in a number of different ways to ensure our members understand how a change in government will positively affect our communities, and our collective agreements.

By the time Local Voice reaches doorsteps, COPE 378’s members will have received ballots for the HST referendum. Our Executive Council passed a motion opposing this regressive tax. We are encourag-ing everyone to vote “Yes” to scrap the HST. For more information on the HST and its detrimental effects on working families, visit the BC Federation of Labour’s HST campaign page at www.HSTinBCfacts.ca.

B.C. municipal elections will take place on No-vember 19th, 2011 and we hope COPE 378 members will have a strong presence in the municipal elections. As in previous years, the Political Action Committee encourages our members to run for municipal gov-ernment. If a candidate is interested in COPE 378’s support, that candidate must also have their Labour Council’s endorsement.

If you are interested in becoming part of the Politi-cal Action Committee and/or getting involved in politi-cal process, please email [email protected].

Bottom Photo: Jack Layton at Vancouver Rally

supporting locked out postal workers, June 17th

If you are

interested in

becoming

part of the

Political Action

Committee,

please contact

jgillies@

cope378.ca. www.HSTinBCfacts.ca

leARN moRe


On May 26-27 COPE 378 held its first meeting of the new Executive Council in Burnaby. This spe-cial, constitutionally-mandated, two-day meet-

ing was an opportunity to orient new Councilors and refresh the knowledge of returning ones.

To help with that goal, former President Andy Ross was on-hand to give two workshops: one on union structure and another on meeting procedures and rules of order.

After Andy’s first presentation, Communications Of-ficer Sage Aaron spoke briefly about the steps the union is taking to publish the COPE 378 history book for e-readers, and plans for an interactive multi-media time-line online using the book’s material.

Thursday morning finished off with an in-depth tu-torial on financial literacy from labour lawyer and for-mer VanCity Board member Catherine McCreary, who went over the local’s finances and gave councilors tips on how to interpret and analyze financial documents.

In the afternoon, council elected their new vice presidents from the Executive Board, acclaiming all three nominees: Gwenne Farrell for Utilities, Jeff Gillies for ICBC, and Heather Lee for Combined Units.

The election was followed by Political Action Com-mittee Co-Chair Jeff Gillies, who recapped recent events from the federal election and provincial by-elec-tion in Point Grey.

After Jeff’s report, Council warmly welcomed the last speaker of the day, BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix, who re-ceived a standing ovation. David Black noted that this was the third time Dix had met with COPE 378 members in the past few months, while all our attempts to meet with Premier Clark and Minister Coleman had been rebuffed.

Dix began by reiterating his promise to bring Ac-centure members back into BC Hydro. “We will do it; you can count on us,” he continued, pointing out that crown corporations like BC Hydro and ICBC are key to supporting B.C. families, communities, and the provin-cial economy.

After urging members to oppose the HST as a re-gressive tax that must be defeated, Dix said it was time to bring change to B.C., and that he needed the help of every person on Council to improve voter turnout.

Friday morning began with an address from Jim Sin-clair, President of the BC Federation of Labour, who also discussed the HST, pointing out that members should not be fooled by Premier Clark’s attempts to sugarcoat the tax:

“The HST is bad economics,” he said, noting the $8 billion in tax cuts B.C. families have paid to corpo-rations due to Liberal tax policies. They’re operating on a flawed idea that giving corporations money will cause them to create jobs, which we’ve seen doesn’t work,” Sinclair argued. He urged COPE 378 members to vote “yes” in the summer referendum in order to scrap the HST.

Sinclair also answered members’ questions and reit-erated many important points that he had previously out-lined in his op-ed which ran in the Spring issue of the Lo-cal Voice, including the problems with smart meters and the need to bring Accenture workers back into BC Hydro.

To finish off the meeting, David Black gave his Presi-dent’s report, entitled: “Our Future. Our Union: A Vision for COPE 378.”

Black outlined COPE’s priorities, including grow-ing the union and protecting more vulnerable work-ers through organizing, looking for ways to increase financial efficiencies, continuing to reduce our carbon footprint, recruiting and training more job stewards, and developing member activism.

Two Day Meeting of Newly Elected CouncilREpORT ON

COUNCIL

Time to orient new Councilors and refresh the

knowledge of returning ones.

The next Executive

Council meeting

will be held on

October 3, 2011.


Building a fairer, more equal B.C.pOLITICS IN B.C.

By ADRIAN DIx, MLAvANCOUvER-KINgSWAy,

LEADER OF ThE NEW DEMOCRAT OFFICIAL OppOSITION

It’s no secret that Christy Clark’s Liberals may call an election this fall, breaking their own fi xed election law in the process.

If they do, there’s a lot at stake. And perhaps nothing better captures the stakes than the issue of fairness and equality—especially when it comes to taxes.

Almost everything—including stress levels, obesity, literacy, rates of criminality and addiction—is aff ected by how equal a society is. Put simply, when inequality increases, bad things happen that aff ect all of us.

Unfortunately, after ten years of Liberal rule, B.C. has become a much, much less equal society.

The Liberals’ narrow focus on tax cuts for big cor-porations and the wealthy has allowed a small minority of British Columbians to reap enormous benefi ts, while those with lower incomes fall further and further behind.

A recent study on taxes showed just how this agen-da benefi ts the few at the expense of the many. You’d think income tax cuts would be good for everybody, right? But when you combine them with the introduc-tion of user fees and other costs imposed by the Lib-

erals, you accelerate a widening gap between rich and poor, with middle income earners struggling to get by.

The biggest benefi ciaries of Liberal tax cuts are high income British Columbians: the top ten per cent of earners have had their annual tax bill reduced by $9,200, while the top one per cent have enjoyed a whopping $41,000 re-duction in taxes each year.

The benefi ts drop signifi cantly as you move down the income scale: middle income earners got a $1,200 reduction, while for low income earners it was only $200.

For those who earn less, these small gains have been wiped out by a host of increased costs. For ex-ample, Hydro rates have gone up an average of $180 per year in the last ten years. That pretty much takes care of the tax break for low income earners right there.

But the list of increases goes on. Tuition fees have doubled, adding an average of $2,300 per year to the cost of an education. Long term seniors care fees have been increased by 93 per cent or as much as $13,500 per year. Pharmacare deductibles have increased by $200 a year. Numerous health services are no longer covered by medicare, including eye exams, physiother-apy and chiropractic care.

The net eff ect is that lower income earners are worse off than they were before, while those with the highest incomes are much better off .

We need to reverse this trend. That is why we have been fi ghting the HST, because it is a massive shift of the tax burden away from big corporations and onto the backs of families. That is why I will continue to fi ght for everyone’s right to join a union and for unions’ right to free collective bargaining. That is why I will roll back corporate tax breaks to pay for programs that help young people get the education they need.

I intend to make ending inequality a key issue in the next election. I will be proposing specifi c policies to achieve that goal. There will be a clear choice between the Liberals’ narrow agenda of favouring corporations and the wealthy over working families and a New Dem-ocrat agenda that reduces inequality and builds a better B.C. for all of us.

Adrian Dix

“...you accelerate a widening gap between rich and poor, with

middle income earners struggling to get by.” – Adrian Dix

British Columbia


Wisconsin: A Shocking Attack and an Inspirational Fight Back

FIghTINgBACK

Since this spring, labour activists around the world have had their eyes on Wisconsin.

In January, newly-elected Republican Gover-nor Scott Walker, riding high on a national wave of GOP midterm support, introduced a “budget repair bill” that would strip collective bargaining rights from all public sector unions in the state in the name of austerity. This was a direct attack on unions’ finances in response to their tendency to support Walker’s po-litical opponents. More importantly, it was an attack on workers’ livelihoods and basic right to negotiate wages and working conditions.

The response from labour and allies against the bill was swift, overwhelming, and truly inspirational. Teach-ers, firefighters, and other public sector workers across the state joined with students, businesses, and mem-bers of the general public to protest. Thousands, includ-ing Canadian allies, protested outside and peacefully occupied the State Capitol for days, regardless of the weather. Mark Brooks, from the Utility Workers Union of America and a delegate of the ICEM North America Region, was one of the participants.

COPE 378 President David Black and Vice-Presi-dent Gwenne Farrell attended a meeting of ICEM North American Region in Ottawa earlier this month, where Wisconsin Steelworkers representative Mike Bolton told those in attendance that this Republican attack saw unions work together who hadn’t even spoken to each other in 25 years.

“Everybody was involved – young, old, union, busi-ness – people from all walks of life came out to fight back,” said Bolton.

The extreme legislation and subsequent protest caused a dramatic drop in the polls for Walker and his allies in Wisconsin. But despite overwhelming public opposition and attempts by the Democratic minority to delay the vote, Walker’s party eventually passed it.

As soon as the law was drafted, W i s c o n s i n unions began recall campaigns and were successful in forcing new elections for six Republicans. After fac-ing court challenges, the law took effect on June 29. Unions are now focused on turning enough Republican seats in the Senate in order to block any further anti-labour legislation until the next election in 2012.

At the Canadian Labour Congress Convention in May, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka thanked Cana-dian unions for their continued solidarity in Wisconsin. He pointed out that Walker’s bill is part of a larger at-tempt by corporate-backed politicians to take away the power of unions under the guise of austerity.

Echoes of Walker’s strategy ring in the Harper Con-servatives’ Bill C-6, their punitive legislated contract lev-eled on the Canadian Union of Postal Workers during Canada Post’s lockout. B.C.’s seen a similar issue, with the Liberal government continuing to outsource union-ized public sector jobs and refusing any wage increases for those jobs remaining.

Now the global labour movement has been unit-ed and reinvigorated. With new connections to allied groups around the fight in Wisconsin, the movement will need to keep up the momentum. States like Michi-gan and Ohio are facing very similar attacks, and if they aren’t stopped it will be a signal to anti-union legislators in Canada.

“The challenges we face today here and around the world are tough,” Trumka told the CLC Convention, “We need to…develop a global strategy to coordinate and unite working people with every bit as much agility and reach as the multinational corporations we deal with. And our bar for measuring progress will be…the number and quality of jobs, good jobs around the world.”

“Everybody was involved – young, old, union, business – people

from all walks of life came out to fight back,” said Bolton.

Rally outside

the Capitol,

Feb 26, 2011

Middle

Photo Credit:

Guy Caron, CEP

Right

Photo Credit:

Mark Brooks,

UWUA


By STEphEN vON SyChOWSKI

youth Action Committee Lives Our Motto: Talk – Action = Nothing

yOUThACTIONCOMMITTEE

It’s been an exciting few months for young workers at COPE 378, both at the Local level, and in the broader labour movement.

Committee Co-Chairs Stephen Von Sychowski and Georgi Bates started the year taking on new respon-sibilities with the Vancouver & District Labour Council (VDLC). Stephen was elected 2nd Vice President, while Georgi was elected Chair of the VDLC Young Workers Committee and its representative on the VDLC Execu-tive Board. Stephen was also re-elected as Chair of the BC Federation of Labour Young Workers Committee. Both committees have grown significantly over the past six months.

In February, Stephen was elected Alternate Vice President for Youth by approximately one hundred young delegates to the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) Convention in Vancouver. At the convention the Vancouver Sun interviewed Stephen, CLC Youth Vice President Eli Goree, and BC Fed Young Workers Com-mittee Co-Chair Kassandra Cordero about the rele-vance of unions to young people today.

COPE 378’s Executive Board elections also proved exciting for younger members. Five people under the age of 30 ran for the Board, and four were elected. Young workers now make up a record twenty per cent of COPE 378’s Executive Board.

During all the many elections, COPE 378’s Youth Action Committee (YAC) continued to campaign on some of the most important issues facing youth.

While Christy Clark was busy trying to steal the credit for the long overdue minimum wage increase,

young workers were mobilizing for another fight: to protect Grant’s Law. This safety legislation was won by the activism of youth across B.C. after the workplace death of a young man named Grant DePatie. The legis-lation is being lobbied against by big business, particu-larly Mac’s Convenience Stores, who want to water it down in order to increase profitability at the expense of workplace safety. YAC members and others wrote hun-dreds of letters, protested outside of a Mac’s, and spoke against the changes to the legislation at public hearings.

The Employee Action & Rights Network (EARN) has been another focus of COPE 378’s youth com-mittee. EARN continues to grow, with hundreds join-ing through the $10 NOW campaign in the wake of the minimum wage victory. EARN is on the lookout for bad bosses to take on, and is pushing towards a goal of 5,000 members.

This year’s Young Workers Retreat at Camp Jubilee was the biggest yet. Participants attended classes rang-ing from Introduction to the Labour Movement, Green Jobs and the Economy, and Feminism and the Labour Movement, as well as Political Action and Mobilizing Young Workers, (the latter two courses facilitated by Georgi and Stephen respectively).

All signs point to a provincial election later this year. YAC held an election campaigner training session and will be gearing up for political action while continuing with its other campaigns. It should be a busy summer, and an even busier fall. After all, Talk – Action = Nothing.

If you are interested in learning more about the Youth Action Committee, email [email protected]

Left Photo (l-r): Stephen Von Sychowski;

Heather Lee, COPE 378

Vice President; and Georgi Bates

Right Photo: COPE 378 young workers

with former President Andy Ross and

former Vice President Bob Derby

Talk

– Action

NoTHING


yOUTh ON BOARD

New Board, young Members

COPE 378’s young Executive Board members are a diverse and dynamic crew. Youth Action Committee Co-Chair Georgi Bates provided her own answers and interviewed her fellow young Board members on how they started with the union, why they felt the need to get involved and what they’ve gained from the experience.

georgi Bates, Capilano University: Simply put, I got involved with COPE 378 because someone took the time to ask me if I would be interested. I’ve always been an activist and advocate for social and human rights, and I quickly learned that the values of the labour movement were a natural fit for me.

It’s important for young people to understand our history - what rights we have from being union mem-bers, and why trade unions were formed. Our past helps us understand what a future would look like if we didn’t fight against issues like two tier wages or attacks on pensions.

In February of 2010 I worked as a coordinator dur-ing the Hertz strike along with a few other members of the Youth Committee. It was an invaluable experi-ence. I learned the deep meaning of solidarity, and it cemented for me how important and relevant unions are, especially now. It was tough strike but despite the challenges, our members worked together and fought to protect their rights. I’m proud of all our members at Hertz, and was thrilled to have played a part in the posi-tive outcome.

Melanie greenlaw, ABSU: I grew up in a union fam-ily, and from an early age I knew the union was where I was meant to be.

I ran for the Executive Board because I wanted to champion for workers’ rights. I knew being on the Board would be a way for me to accomplish that.

Young people need to be involved with their unions because if we aren’t, the union movement will disappear and our hard won rights will go with it. Young workers are the future of the union movement and have to be supported through training and mentoring. There are many challenges facing young workers starting out in the union - the first being able to get a union job and a position as a regular employee. We need to concentrate on organizing to make sure there are more union jobs for young people, and to push back on the abuse of casual, or part-time temporary designations.

Trevor hansen, ICBC: I got involved because this was my first union job and I wanted to know what my dues were supporting, so I became a job steward. I also wanted to show interest at work above and beyond what my ‘day job’ required. I can honestly say there’s no higher form of engagement in your workplace than by getting involved with the union!

It’s important for younger people to get involved because we’re automatically at a disadvantage when we join the workforce. It’s like we’re stepping into a game already underway, we only know half the rules, our op-ponent wrote the rule book, and they’ve been known to cheat. Sadly, we can be taken advantage of and often we don’t even realize it.

Whether it’s de-mystifying the collective agreement for someone, defending a co-worker, attending an edu-cational course, or even after a day of collective bar-gaining, my time with the union is well spent. Ultimately, the more I get involved, the more rewarding it gets.

Stephen von Sychowski, Coast Mountain Bus: I knew from day one I wanted to get involved with my union. My previous activist experience, family history, and involvement with the Vancouver & District Labour Council Young Workers Committee all pointed in this direction and I’ve never looked back.

Young workers sometimes face some barriers to union activism. Many of us start as casuals in our work-sites, and getting involved can be risky with some em-ployers if you are still on probation or are not a regular employee. Sometimes young workers face ageism: the idea that because they are young they aren’t competent or don’t have the necessary knowledge, experience, or skills to do the job. We’ve been lucky COPE 378 has giv-en young activists strong and consistent support.

My involvement with the labour movement has giv-en me inspirational, educational, and life changing ex-periences, from my trip to South Africa’s World Festival of Youth and Students, to seeing grievances move to positive conclusions, or seeing campaigns like Grant’s Law or $10 NOW bear fruit.

Email the

Youth Action

Committee at

[email protected]

Five people under the age of 30 ran for the Board,

and four were elected. Young workers now make up a

record twenty per cent of COPE 378’s Executive Board.

DID You KNoW:


Clean Energy Act Needs RenewingENERgy pOLICy

By MARvIN ShAFFER

Clean Energy Act is what needs renewing; govern-ment’s cost-be-damned policies play significant role in forcing BC hydro costs and rates higher

If it is not already a fundamental law of economics it should be: When government says we must pay what-ever it takes, we inevitably pay too much. So it is with

the B.C. government’s energy policies.In the Clean Energy Act, the government told

BC Hydro it has to be self-sufficient. It wasn’t talking about ensuring a reliable supply of energy. “Self-suffi-ciency” as defined by the government is simply a re-quirement for BC Hydro to buy more long-term firm electricity supply than its own, well-established reliabil-ity criteria says it needs and that the B.C. Utilities Com-mission—the independent government agency tasked with regulating energy utilities—would support. More-over, it has to do that regardless of the cost.

On top of that, the government legislated that BC Hydro has to buy “insurance” – even more electric-ity that it does not need.

What this “insurance” is for has never been made clear, but the effect of “self-sufficiency” and “insurance” is to force BC Hydro to buy or develop the equivalent of two Site C dams more than is actually needed to ensure a sufficient, reliable supply for British Columbians.

The fact that the electricity BC Hydro is being forced to buy is costing more than double what the electricity is worth, now and in the foreseeable future, does not seem to matter. The legislation is absolute. BC Hydro must acquire this extra electricity supply whatever its impact on costs and rates.

BC Hydro has to do a lot more as well. Under the Clean Energy Act, the government directed BC Hydro to buy private power for export, with BC Hydro provid-ing the transmission, backup and other services needed to make the private power a marketable product.

The legislation does not require BC Hydro to do this at a loss, but there is no provision to ensure that BC Hydro is fully compensated for the value of the ser-vices it provides and risks it assumes. In case BC Hydro is hesitant, government has explicitly legislated the right to force BC Hydro to buy private power for export, re-gardless of the risks or impacts on BC Hydro’s own trad-ing opportunities.

The Clean Energy Act goes even further. It directs BC Hydro to proceed with literally billions of dollars of investments without any independent review by the BC Utilities Commission or anyone else. So the billion dollar smart meter initiative is going ahead, without indepen-dent scrutiny of its thin business case based more on the identification of illegal marijuana growing opera-tions than anything else.

The Northwest Transmission line is going ahead without any consideration of the tens of millions of dol-lars per year that BC Hydro will lose to supply each new mine the transmission line is being built to connect. Un-der BC Hydro’s industrial rate schedule, in accordance with government legislation, the mines will pay less than one half of the cost of the new supply BC Hydro will have to acquire to provide the very large amounts of electricity the mines consume.

Also going ahead without B.C. Utilities Commission review and approval are purchases of private power un-der the recent 2010 Clean Call, despite their high cost and relatively low value.

All of which brings us to the most interesting, some might say ironic, current situation. Having done all this, the government now is not pleased with the impact its cost-be-damned policies are having. BC Hydro rates are forecast to increase over 50 per cent in five years; over 100 per cent in 10 years.

The government realizes that something has to be done: BC Hydro cannot be allowed to raise its rates that much. So a panel of government officials has been formed to review and make recommendations on BC Hydro’s costs and rates.

The political spin accompanying the announce-ment of this review is that the government is taking on BC Hydro. In fairness, it can be tempting to bash BC Hydro. No doubt some executive salaries are out of line and some discretionary costs could be reduced.

However, one can only hope that the panel rec-ognizes the need to investigate the government’s own major role in driving up BC Hydro’s costs and rates.

The temptation to look for a few million dollars of savings in salaries and operating costs should not cloud the need to address the billions of unnecessary costs be-ing forced on BC Hydro by the provincial government.

The stated objective of the review is to ensure that BC Hydro’s costs are minimized and benefits are maxi-mized. That cannot be done with the “self-sufficiency”, “insurance”, export and myriad other requirements and projects government has imposed without regard to impact and cost.

The main provisions of the Clean Energy Act should be repealed. The government panel would do a great service by addressing why that is necessary and what should be instituted in its place.

Marvin Shaffer is an adjunct professor at the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University and the au-thor of Lost in Transmission: A Comprehensive Critique of the BC Energy Plan

Originally

printed in the

Vancouver Sun

on June 7, 2011


Sarah MelsnessUnion Representative

STAFFpROFILE

When Sarah first started working at Coastal Community Credit Union at the age of twenty-five, she made her willingness to stand up to

the employer known in her first week. “I read the collective agreement and went to my

manager to tell him I thought my pay was wrong,” she laughs. “I think my manager was a little shocked. Then I went on to challenge the pay issue with the HR department.”

She won her challenge. And she surprised few people when she was elected as a job steward short-ly thereafter, and became chief job steward within six months of starting at her first union job.

“We didn’t have a job steward in our office,” recalls Sarah. “The manager was encouraging this one per-son to run, and I didn’t like that. So I asked a colleague if she would run for steward with me so there would be an election, and we both won. The management favourite didn’t.”

In 2009 Sarah participated in a three month mentorship program, which was spearheaded by COPE 378 Vice President Heather Lee (then Vice Pres-ident of COPE 15). The program brought her into the union office, working as a temporary union represen-tative. When a position opened up at COPE 15, Sarah applied and became the youngest rep in the office.

“It’s interesting, when I became chief job steward, we didn’t have a lot of younger people involved with the union,” she says. “But I noticed a change when I be-came an activist. I think I helped other young people feel comfortable in the union, when they saw some-one their age involved and active. We have more young stewards now.”

Sarah credits the strong mentorship she had from the staff and board at COPE 15 (which merged with COPE 378 in 2010) for helping her learn the skills neces-sary to move from job steward to union representative.

“Jack Gerow was a fantastic mentor. He encour-aged me to be analytical and assertive, and gave me responsibilities which helped me grow my skill set. I’m

grateful I get to work with people who have had such long careers in the labour movement,” she says.

While she may have learned the nuts and bolts of working for a union from the mentorship program, Sar-ah credits the values her family instilled in her for her strong belief in equality and justice, and for her belief in the labour movement’s place in society. “My dad is a journeyman carpenter, and became a trustee of his union in the 1990s. But even before he joined that union my parents would talk about the benefits unions pro-vide to people, especially families,” she explains.

Sarah learned of a symmetry within her family his-tory when she began her mentorship at the COPE 15 of-fice: her grandfather was her age when he began sign-ing collective agreements as District Secretary for his union, the International Woodworkers of America (IWA). Her grandfather took on challenges well ahead of his time for the 1940s, including encouraging members of Vancouver’s multicultural communities to join the IWA.

Sarah plans to carry on her family’s tradition of strong values with her own 21-month old daughter. Sarah Melsness

Starting as the youngest rep in the COPE 15 office and

helping other young people in the Union, Sarah is

committed to sharing her strong values with her daughter.


BARgAININg UNIT BRIEFS: SUMMER 2011 EDITIONBARgAININg UNIT BRIEFS

By CAROL MCLUSKIE AND KIM SMITh

More info at

cope378.ca

ABSUThe employer took the union to mediation in May. Mediation was not successful. Bargaining for this unit has broken off.

BCAAThe partial decertification of the West Vancouver (Park Royal) office is continuing. COPE made its final submission on June 8, 2011. It is now up to the Labour Board to decide the outcome.

BC COMpUTERIzED DISpATChBargaining for the members of this bargaining unit is now complete. The members voted in favour of ratifying a five-year collective agreement. Some of the highlights of the deal are: Increases to pension and benefits in the first two years, a $150 signing bonus and increases in 2012–2014 based on the CPI index.

BCgEUThe collective agreement expired on March 31, 2010. The new collec-tive agreement has been ratified and is now in the process of being updated for distribution to members. The bargaining committee consists of Sherry Baker, Karon Hardy, Sarah Maglio, Carrol Edwards-Alternate and Bonnie Merriman, Union Representative.

BEACh pLACE vENTURES (BLACKTOp TAxI)The collective agreement expires June 30, 2011. Notice to commence bargaining has been sent to the employer and bargaining surveys will be sent to members shortly. The bargaining committee consists of Trish Wilson and Union Repre-sentative Jackie Brown.

BERLITzA membership meeting was held to review the bargaining proposals and a notice to commence bargaining has been sent to the employer. The parties have agreed to exchange proposals in July and tentative dates have been set for September to begin bargaining.The bargaining committee includes Union Representative Karen Rockwell, and job stewards Jennifer Williams and Colin Patterson.

BONNy’S TAxIThe collective agreement expires June 30, 2011. Notice to commence bargaining has been sent to the employer and bargaining surveys will be sent to members shortly. Preparations will be under way to elect the union’s negotiating committee at that time. The chief spokesperson for the bargaining committee is Union Repre-sentative Jackie Brown.

BURvIC hOLDINgSThe union is scheduled to meet with the members on July 5, 2011 to discuss the status of bargaining as there is an ongoing issue with the status of the lease of the building the clinic occupies. Bargaining is on hold at this time.

CANADIAN FREIghTWAyS LTD.The collective agreement expired on December 31, 2010. The parties met mid-April to continue talks and are next scheduled to meet July 14. They are hopeful they will complete bargaining at that time.The bargaining committee consists of Union Representative Kevin Payne, Brad Eckart, Wes Rickards and Frank Brennan.

CANADIAN NORThERN ShIELDThe Memorandum of Agreement negotiated for the renewal of the col-lective agreement, which expired on September 30, 2010, was ratified on April 26, 2011. The bargaining committee consisted of Yvonne Crowley, Roberta Go-odrick, Rhiannon Sprout and Jackie Brown as the Union Representative.

CApILANO UNIvERSITyThe union is ready to begin bargaining but has not yet served notice to bargain as the Capilano Faculty Association has been bargaining.

ChCBargaining is now complete. The contract was settled under the Public Sector Employers’ Council (PSEC) guidelines.

COAST MOUNTAIN BUS CO.The collective agreement for the COPE 378 members at Coast Moun-tain Bus Co. expired on March 31, 2011. Proposals are currently being formulated from the survey results. Bargaining is expected to begin in September 2011. The bargaining committee consists of Union Representative Kevin Payne, Executive Board member Stephen Von Sychowski, Executive Councillor Ray Manning and job stewards Ron Williams and Doug Fergus.

COLLEgE OF REgISTERED NURSES OF BCThe collective agreement for the members at this unit expired on Sep-tember 30, 2010. Dates have been scheduled for bargaining to begin September 15 & 16, 2011. Union Representative Barry Hodson will be doing the bargaining for the Union.

COMMUNITy SAvINgS CREDIT UNIONThe collective agreement expires on June 30, 2011. A tentative agree-ment has been reached and ratification will have taken place by the time Local Voice goes to print. Loralee Dallas and Graeme Hutchison are the bargaining committee members with Union Representative Jack Gerow as the chief spokes-person for the bargaining committee.

CUpE LOCAL 454At present the union is in talks with the membership to start bargaining.The bargaining committee consists of Union Representative Barbara Junker and Kathleen Ladislaus.

CUpE BC AND LOCALSThe collective agreement expired on December 31, 2010. A member-ship meeting was held on March 16, 2011 to introduce the bargaining committee, and hear the membership’s concerns and input. The union has suggested June 29 & 30 for bargaining and are awaiting confirma-tion from the Employer.The bargaining committee consists of Union Representative Barbara Junker, Executive Councillor Nadine Ford and job steward Lori Watt.

DA TOWNLEy & ASSOCIATESThe parties have exchanged proposals and met more than eight times. The union is set to meet with the membership to discuss their next steps. The bargaining committee consists of Union Representative Glen MacInnes, Executive Board member Colleen Finn and job steward Lina Johal.

FORTIS BCThe bargaining committee has changed since the COPE elections. The new committee is scheduled to meet on June 27 and 28 to prepare to meet with the employer thereafter to discuss amalgamation with the FortisBC Energy Inc., (formerly Terasen), bargaining units.The bargaining committee consists of Union Representative Kevin Smyth, Executive Councillors Kari Campbell and Richard Gaylard, and job stewards Kate Koczor and Rick Meakes.

gREyhOUNDBargaining surveys have been complete and proposals are currently be-ing formulated.Union Representative Kevin Payne is doing the bargaining for the union.

gULF & FRASER FIShERMEN’S CREDIT UNION The collective agreement expires on June 30, 2011. Notice to com-mence bargaining has been sent to the employer and a number of bar-gaining sessions have been held. The last session was on June 14, 2011 when the employer refused to reply to the membership’s compensation proposals and continued to demand the concession of extending the work day by two hours. The dispute is now off to mediation. The bargaining committee consists of Arvid Vimb, Robin Manolson and Linda Banxachai. Chief spokesperson for the bargaining committee is Union Representative Jack Gerow.

hASTINgS ENTERTAINMENT INC.The collective agreement expires on July 31, 2011. The bargaining com-mittee has been elected and consists of Margaret Sykes, Merritt Smith and Jeff Kwan. Bargaining surveys will be sent to members shortly. Chief spokesperson for the bargaining committee is Union Representa-tive Kelly Quinn.


BARgAININg UNIT BRIEFS

ICBCOn June 8, 9, 15 and 16, 2011, the bargaining committee met with ICBC to continue negotiations for a renewed collective agreement. A number of housekeeping and non-contentious items were signed off and will now be incorporated into a renewed collective agreement. Due to sum-mer vacation, no new dates were scheduled by the time Local Voice went to press. The bargaining committee consists of Mike Ferguson, Karin Cirez, Jeff Gillies, Joyce Galuska, Trevor Hansen, Yasmin Carroll and Jaime Zyg-munt, Senior Union Representative.

ITT FLygTThe collective agreement for the members at this bargaining unit ex-pired on April 30, 2011. Bargaining surveys have been sent and proposals are being prepared.

IWA FOREST INDUSTRy pENSION pLANBargaining for the members at this unit is now complete. Members voted in favour of accepting a three-year agreement on May 18, 2011. Some of the highlights include a $500 signing bonus with increases of two per cent in the first and second year.The bargaining committee consists of Union Representative Barry Hodson, Executive Councillor Kathy Thomas, Beth Turner and Sylvia Teghararian.

pvTTA one-year deal was ratified for the period of April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011 with a three per cent wage increase.

SEASpAN MARINE CORpORATIONThe current agreement expired on February 28, 2011 but all terms and conditions remain in force and effect until a renewed collective agree-ment is negotiated by the parties. The union has received written notice from the employer, in accordance with the Labour Relations Code of B.C., to commence collective bargaining for a renewed collective agreement. Representatives on the negotiating committee are job steward Dale Gibson, assisted by Union Representative and chief spokesperson Jackie Brown. Bargaining survey responses have been received and are being reviewed by the negotiating committee in preparation for bargaining.

SEIU The union served the employer with Notice to Bargain. Bargaining dates are set with the employer for June 29, 2011 at the COPE 378 offices in Burnaby. The bargaining committee consists of Cathy Conley and Kerrie Irving, Union Representative.

TEAMSTERS 31The collective agreement expired on March 31, 2011. A bargaining committee has been selected. No dates have been scheduled yet to begin bargaining.Union Representative Glen MacInnes will be conducting bargaining for the members.

TEAMSTERS 155Bargaining for this unit has concluded. A seven-year deal was ratified with wage increases of three per cent retroactive for the first three years and two per cent for each year thereafter.

TEAMSTERS 213The collective agreement expired on March 31, 2011. A bargaining committee has been selected. No dates have been scheduled yet to begin bargaining.Union Representative Glen MacInnes will be conducting bargaining for the members.

TEAMSTERS 213 MEMBERS BENEFIT pLANThe collective agreement expired on March 31, 2011. A bargaining com-mittee has been selected. No dates have been scheduled yet to begin bargaining.Union Representative Glen MacInnes will be conducting bargaining for the members.

ThUNDERBIRD WINTER SpORTSThe collective agreement expired on March 31, 2010. Notice to com-mence bargaining has been served. By the time Local Voice went to press no members have yet returned the bargaining survey. Tentative bargaining dates have been set with the employer for the first week of July, 2011. Union Representative Kerrie Irving is the lead negotiator for the bargain-ing committee.

TRANSLINKProposals are currently being formulated from the survey results. Bar-gaining is expected to begin in September 2011. The bargaining committee consists of Kevin Payne, Union Repre-sentative, Executive Councillors Pat Keeping, Rob Gladwin and Dave Bunderla and job stewards Sara Dhaliwal and Dan Dickhout.

TWU pENSION pLANThe parties met to discuss bargaining but the employer was not ready. They are scheduled to meet again July 28, 2011 to exchange proposals.The bargaining committee consists of Union Representative Barry Hod-son, Mabo Mui, Beverly Victor and alternate Richard Vorstenborch.

TWUThe collective agreement for the members at this unit will expire on July 31, 2011. Notice to commence bargaining has been sent to the employer but no dates have been set at this time.Union Representative Glen MacInnes will be conducting bargaining for the members.

UNITED FIShERMEN & ALLIED WORKER UNIONThe collective agreement expired December 31, 2010. Notice to com-mence bargaining was served to the Employer on November 2, 2010. The bargaining committee has met with the employer twice and has made some movement in regards to hours of work. Meetings are scheduled with the employer the last week of June, 2011. The bargaining committee consists of Nancy Anderson and Kerrie Ir-ving, Union Representative.

vANCOUvER TAxI (DBA CENTRAL TAxI DISpATCh)The collective agreement expires June 30, 2011. Notice to commence bargaining has been sent to the employer. Preparations will be under way to elect the union’s negotiating committee and prepare surveys for membership input. Chief spokesperson for the bargaining committee is Union Representa-tive Jackie Brown.

vICTORIA TRADE UNIONThe collective agreement expires on July 31, 2011. Chief spokesperson for the bargaining committee is Union Representa-tive Sarah Melsness.

WORKINg ENTERpRISESThe collective agreement expired May 31, 2011. Notice to commence bargaining has been sent to the employer. Bargaining surveys will be sent to members shortly. Representatives on the negotiating committee are Job Steward Pauline Yaeger, assisted by Union Representative and chief spokesperson, Jackie Brown.

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


Are you Ready for Retirement? gOLDENyEARS

By LORI MAyhEW, COpE 378 SECRETARy-TREASURER

Retirement seems to be all over the news these days. The leading edge of the baby boomer demo-graphic turns 65 this year. The Canadian Labour

Congress has an ongoing campaign to increase what Canadians receive from the Canadian Pension Plan. I’m sure, on a bad day at work, most of us sit back and think, “I wish I could retire right now.”

Well, what does it take to be able to retire “right now?” It actually takes a lot of planning – it’s not some-thing that just happens. There are two things people should keep in mind when planning for retirement: whether or not you have a workplace pension, you should be saving for your retirement. And you really should have a plan for all that free time you’re going to have!

Let’s start with the money. How much will you need to save? That depends on what you want to do with your retirement. Current conventional advice recommends saving enough so that you will have about 70 per cent of your working income when you retire. That view is being challenged by some, who ar-gue you will need less since expenses drop dramati-cally once you stop working.

You should take a look at your whole financial pic-ture when you’re doing this: do you have a workplace pension, and what is that going to provide for you? What will you receive through the Canadian Pension Plan? Then take a look at what the gap will be between these two and your target retirement income, and save towards that target.

How will you know what type of investment to use? The best kind of financial advice will usually come from someone knowledgeable in financial matters, but doesn’t have a service to sell you. There is an inherent conflict of interest with most financial advisors: most of them are paid on a commission basis. So, do they recommend what’s best for you, or what they will make the most money from?

I recommend speaking with at least two different advisors, and then sifting through the information you get. You should also do some of your own research. The effort is well worth it – after all, this is your money and your future.

The other aspect of retirement is – and something to consider when you are planning how much money to save – what are you going to do with all your free time? Think about how you are going to fill your days. While “doing nothing” can sound tempting, most peo-ple can only handle that for so long before they feel the need to “do something.”

Take stock of your interests and hobbies. What do you enjoy? What is it you would like to spend your time doing? Start planning the foundations of a financially secure and active retirement now, and they will indeed be your golden years!

Lori Mayhew is

the Chair of COPE 378’s

Pension Committee

What do you enjoy? What is it you

would like to spend your time doing?

Are you ready?


COpE 378 members work at the following properties

Accenture Business ServicesUnion Reps: Barry Hodson, Pat Junilla, Brian Nelson, Karen Rockwell

Alma Mater SocietyUnion Rep: Karen Rockwell

AvisCarUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

BCAA SC & ERSUnion Rep: Pat Junilla

BC Computerized Dispatch (yellow Cab)Union Rep: Barry Hodson

BC Federation of LabourUnion Rep: Kevin Smyth

BC Ferry & Marine Workers’ UnionUnion Rep: Brad Bastien

BCgEUUnion Rep: Bonnie Merriman

BC hydro (incl. powertech Const. Services)Union Reps: Barry Hodson, Pat Junilla, Barbara Junker, Glen MacInnes, Brian Nelson

BC Nurses’ Union Union Rep: Kerrie Irving

BC TransitUnion Rep: Kevin Payne

Beach place venturesUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

Berlitz CanadaUnion Rep: Karen Rockwell

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: Karen Rockwell

Carpenters Local 1928Union Rep: Kerrie Irving

Catalyst paperUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

CIATUUnion Rep: Kerrie Irving

Coastal Community Credit UnionUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

Coastal Community InsuranceUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

Coast Mountain BusUnion Rep: Kevin Payne

College of pharmacists of BCUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

College of Registered NursesUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

Columbia hydroUnion Rep: Brad Bastien

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

EcojusticeUnion Rep: Sarah Melsness

Electrical Industry Training InstituteUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

Enterprise Rent-A-CarUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

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: Kelly Quinn

hertzUnion Rep: Glen MacInnes

ICBCUnion Reps: Vic Foth, Kerrie Irving, Sarah Melsness, Bonnie Merriman, Kelly Quinn

Island Savings Credit Union and InsuranceUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

Kekinow Native housing SocietyUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

ITT FlygtUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

IWA Forest Industry ppUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

Kelowna Cabs Ltd.Union Rep: Barry Hodson

Konica MinoltaUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

Kruger products (Scott paper)Union Rep: Bonnie Merriman

Ladysmith & District Credit UnionUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

Lu’Ma Native housing SocietyUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

MacLure’s Cabs Ltd.Union Rep: Jackie Brown

Marine Workers & BoilermakersUnion Rep: Kerrie Irving

Master Trade OfficeUnion Rep: Kerrie Irving

New Democratic partyUnion Rep: Brad Bastien

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: Kerrie Irving

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 Worker Union (TWU)Union Rep: Glen MacInnes

Telecommunications Workers Union pension planUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

Teletheatre BCUnion Rep: Kelly Quinn

Trade Union Research BureauUnion Rep: Barry Hodson

TransLinkUnion Rep: Kevin Payne

Tree IslandUnion Rep: Kevin Smyth

United Fishermen & Allied Workers’ UnionUnion Rep: Kerrie Irving

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: Kerrie Irving

Westminster Savings Credit UnionUnion Rep: Jack Gerow

Working EnterprisesUnion Rep: Jackie Brown

yellow pagesUnion Rep: Jack Gerow


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