CUPE 57 – Area 1 report

Local 57 has spent the majority of our focus this year on education, attending conferences and the mobilization of our members.

 

We have sent stewards, committee members and executive to training, legal conference, local bargaining conference and WSIB conference. We sent 3 members to the Trades Conference and 6 members to the RPN conference.  We have elected an RPN committee and a Social Committee. Our numbers are increasing at our monthly membership meetings.

 

In January, we did a mobilization campaign for our members. We gave out swag bags with our local’s items in them. There was also an information sheet containing the issues we are facing in bargaining and all of the info about our executive, stewards and websites to get more information. With this event, we got the personal emails and phone numbers of about 500 of our members.      

 

We are looking into getting our own website up and running.  We have purchased a projector and an owl so we can do remote meetings.

 

Members are concerned about the possibility of more layoffs. The hospital is not filling 8 of our PSW vacancies on their public website and is eliminating 2 positions that have become vacant.  They are still letting people work short and will only fill them if it won’t incur premium a lot of the time. Our incident reports are going down because members say they are too busy to do them. Moral is at a low and there are a lot of interpersonal conflicts. Respectful Workplace and Bullying complaints are increasing.

 

With the cost of everything going up, they are concerned about their wage rates. The cost of living is going up so much that it is becoming a financial burden to a lot of them.

 

The next part of our report was written by Mark Zinger our Vice President.

 

 

Cheryl Brodie-Campbell and I have been on a leave, working with OCHU and other area members on a militant action plan for our central bargaining. We have started off at our local 57 hospital with charting plans, (Members work information, phone #’s, personal emails, etc) gathering “organic leaders” in each department, and also currently getting postcards signed for our OCHU convention, the first week of April. This is our first step right now with gathering all of our local members togethers, understanding our member’s issues (wages, retention issues, benefits, ect), and fighting together as one big voice.

 

Our local has around 660 CUPE members and we have around 210 postcards signed and counted for. We also have around 15 organic leaders in certain areas/departments that are holding their own unit meetings, and getting postcards signed and delivered back to Cheryl or myself. 

 

We are asking the other Locals in our area to talk with their employers about booking rooms for Cheryl and I to come and talk to your important members about this movement.   

 

In solidarity 

Mark Zinger

 

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We are in the process of fighting one of our toughest rounds of negotiations.  We all need to be diligent in supporting this effort.  Our members need better wages, improved staffing, benefits, working conditions and a safe environment to work in.

 

In solidarity