BY KEITH LACEY
Hundreds of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members from Greater Sudbury are prepared to join more than 100,000 workers across the province in a one-day strike protesting controversial government legislation.
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MACKINNON |
However, the actual date of the illegal strike action has yet to be decided.
?The decision on when to hold our protest will be made by the CUPE leadership...but no date has yet been set,? says Wyman MacKinnon, president of CUPE Local 4705.
On Monday, the government said it would need a few days to rewrite legislation relating to Bill 206, which could be a good sign the government might be willing to change its tough stance about the bill, says MacKinnon.
This is also why CUPE?s leadership is hesitating in announcing the date to hold the province-wide protest, he said.
MacKinnon stresses any province-wide strike by CUPE members against the Liberal government?s proposed changes to Bill 206, which affects CUPE
members? pension plans, is being organized to not effect essential services.
?We?re sitting down with management to try and work out an agreement so that no department or service would be left high and dry,? says MacKinnon.
?The idea behind the proposed strike is to get our message across to the government and not adversely affect members of the public. It?s all about a show of solidarity by our members.?
The threatened job action could result in garbage going uncollected, streets left unplowed and civic buildings left idle for at least one day, MacKinnon admits.
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MIETO |
CUPE also represents about 600 custodians at elementary and secondary schools in the Sudbury area. The union says it will not prevent teachers and students from going to school.
Teachers? unions in Ontario have instructed their members to report to work in the event of a CUPE strike, but to honour picket line protocols and avoid doing the work of striking workers.
Some teachers are also allowed to stand in solidarity with the custodians by joining pickets before or after school and providing coffee and doughnuts.
The City of Greater Sudbury says Wednesday it is preparing in case of a labour disruption by CUPE members.
?While the city is also opposed to Bill 206, the city does not endorse nor support the proposed illegal strike,? says the city?s Chief Administrative Officer Mark Mieto. ?In the event of an illegal strike, the city will be forced to operate at a reduced workforce. If this occurs, essential services related to public health and safety will be our highest priority.?
The city does have a strike contingency plan and will enforce it if there is a labour dispute, says Mieto.
?We are confident in our contingency plans in the event of a walk-out, however, if it does occur, there certainly will be service issues to resolve.?
Union leadership has called Premier Dalton McGuinty?s plans to make four dozen late amendments to Bill 206 a ?recipe for disaster,? says MacKinnon.
Union leaders have been asking for two decades to give CUPE full control of its Ontario Municipal Employees Pension System (OMERS) and the government has agreed, but the amendments being pushed through would result in a ?two-tier pension system which is simply unacceptable? to the majority of members, says MacKinnon.
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DUGUID |
The proposed changes would give police and firefighters much stronger pensions, while more than 350,000 families would receive a different rate of accruing benefits and far less impressive pensions, he says.
?We?re all equal partners in this union and we?re telling the province ?let?s sit down and negotiate a fair and equitable deal for all of our members?...the two-tier proposal being introduced now is not acceptable.?
Brad Duguid, parliamentary assistant with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, says the province?s new model puts control of the pension plans with CUPE members, where it belongs.
?Some disgruntled stakeholders are trying to incite fear by arguing current pension rights will be taken away, or taxpayers will have to pay more,? says Duguid. ?That?s not what our proposed model does.?
While protecting existing pensions, the proposal will allow supplemental benefits to be negotiated locally and those benefits for police offices, firefighters and paramedics would be paid for by those workers and employers 50/50, said Duguid.
?No one would pay for a supplemental benefit they do not receive,? he says.
Nothing in the legislation would effect existing pensions, he adds.
Sid Ryan, Ontario CUPE president, says the wave of solidarity being shown across the province is a clear indication members are determined to win a fair governance structure of their pension plan.
?A pension plan that treats all members of the plan fairly and gives them real oversight over how their pension monies are managed,? he says.
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It?s a true sign of the times as CUPE members Lisa Sharma (left) and Wendy Rovinelli get ready for an information picket in front of Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci?s office today from noon to 1:30 pm. |
The proposed changes to Bill 206 not only shows preference for certain workers, but severely limits the ability of the majority of plan members to improve their pension benefits, MacKinnon says.
The membership doesn?t want to strike, but have clearly shown they are willing to pay the consequences of participating in a one-day illegal action to try and stop this legislation from being passed, MacKinnon says.
If the government does push through Bill 206, MacKinnon says CUPE management will sit down and strategize further plans, which could well include other work stoppages across the province.
- with files from Heidi Ulrichsen
