I'd like to respond to incorrect information
in your article about the Greater Sudbury Hydro strike in the
June 20th edition.
I was offended by comments made by hydro
board chair Doug Craig, blaming the strike on ideology of our
national union.
I am a national representative of the
Canadian Union of Public Employees, and
I have the pleasure of representing Local
4705 and the hydro workers in negotiations. CUPE is a
democratic union and members are not required to vote
locally on the issues in negotiations,
including decisions to strike.
Greater Sudbury Hydro wants to roll back
retiree benefits in our collective agreement and weaken
protection against contracting out and technological
change. These are serious issues for any
trade unionist and we are not going to accept these
concessions.
Before becoming a national representative, I
was a member of CUPE in this particular bargaining unit. I can
tell you in the past we have decided to
emphasize our benefits in negotiations,
balancing the need for a secure retirement with our wage
demands.
The utility is now trying to undo 20 years of
negotiations that have brought us to where we are today.
If we're talking ideology, the real blame for
the strike lies with city council and the board of directors
they appointed, including many councillors who sit on that
board.
They are attempting to gut our collective
agreement. And why? Because council has demanded $4 million a
year in dividends, up from $2.8 million in the previous
budget.
After eliminating 23 positions, the only
place left to find the money is by squeezing it out of
workers.
Dennis Burke
National Servicing Representative
CUPE