CUPE 387 and the City of New Westminster have a new joint committee on the topic of why people come to work at the City of New Westminster and what keeps them here. We are looking for feedback from our members.
Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey and share your experience. All data collected is delivered to the Committee anonymously.
The survey ends Friday, July 5, 2024.
The importance of political action and awareness
Your lives are directly impacted by the decisions of municipal councillors. Electing decision makers who stand up for workers and prioritize treating their employees fairly makes a difference for us at work and improves services for residents, businesses, and visitors. Attempts to limit the ability of unions and our members to meet and speak with elected municipal representatives is unfair, undemocratic and potentially leads to an unrepresentative and divided community.
This is why CUPE 387 is pleased to see Community First council members standing up for working people in real and tangible ways. Their recent successful defeat of a motion to restrict unions’ ability to rally support with their own members for municipal candidates or elector organizations demonstrates their commitment to our shared values.
What happened?
In March, Councillors Fontaine and Minhas put forward a motion seeking support to campaign the provincial government to make changes to rules for municipal elections in the BC Elections Act. Their goal was to restrict how union, not-for-profits and corporations use their internal resources during local elections.
There are already restrictions that ban direct financial donations from unions, non-for-profit entities, and corporations. Fontaine and Minhas think that the government should also be able to monitor and restrict how we communicate, organize, and allocate resources within our own union. Considering how many labour-endorsed candidates were successful in the last municipal election, this attempt at curtailing our activities can be viewed as a direct response to the power of collective action.
Who spoke against the motion?
The strongest opposition to the motion came from Councillors Henderson, Campbell, and Mayor Johnstone. They spoke of Charter issues, concerns on restricting the rights of groups to promote candidates whose concerns align with theirs, and low rates of engagement in municipal politics.
What next?
We will continue to endorse and work with council members who are as committed to the community as we are. We’ll continue to have discussions with Community First about finding ways to uphold the shared values we hold for workers and the communities within New Westminster. This will include publicly endorsing councillors and asking our members to volunteer and vote for them.
Moving forward we’ll be sharing how you can get involved and help support endorsed councillors. While we recognize that it is more difficult than ever to find time for politics – and we will be conscious of this in the requests we make of you – your support can help make sure New West has progressive leadership and a vibrant future.
Members of CUPE 387 are eligible for the following educational scholarships:
Aubrey Burton/Reg Ford Memorial Scholarship ($500) from CUPE BC. Members, their spouses or their children are eligible to apply. (Applications due by August 19, 2024)
Metro Vancouver District Council Bursary ($1000) (Two application cycles: May 31 and November 30)
BCCWITT Career Advancement Bursary (up to $1000) (Applications accepted quarterly)
Elections were held at the last General Meeting, and we now have a full Executive Board. Thank you to everyone who participated in the Election and a warm and appreciative welcome to our new Executives.
The CUPE 387 Executive Board positions are filled by the following members:
President
Mike Taddei, Engineering Operations
Vice President
Nic Correia, Engineering Operations
Treasurer
Tabitha Guichon, Engineering Operations
Recording Secretary
Michelle Edwardsen, Parks
Full Time Officer
Nancy Jickels
Executive Directors
Gavin Hermanson, Engineering Services
Michael Racanello, Development Services
Jessica Adam, Recreation
Monique Ferbey, Finance
Jay Decoursey, Engineering Operations
Trustees
Nancy Miller, Engineering Operations
Catherine Lindsay, Legislative Services
Darryl Peterson, Engineering Operations
CUPE LOCAL 387 SHORT TERM SICK LEAVE PLAN
SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING
Wednesday, May 8, 2024, 5:00 p.m. City Hall
Committee Room No. 2
To Amend the Short Term Sick Plan Bylaws as follows:
Current:
RULES AND REGULATIONS
following claims for the remainder of the year. (Amended December 10, 2013)
Proposed:
To delete RULES AND REGULATIONS NO. 11
If approved the first day of the fifth claim and all subsequent claims will be covered by the Short Term Sick Plan.
CUPE 387 is accepting Nominations for the following positions:
The following positions are currently occupied and may become vacant if changes occur during the elections. Nominations will be accepted from the floor at the time of the elections should such vacancies arise.
Election Information
The election will be held at the next general meeting on April 23, 2024 at 5:00 pm at the Sapperton Pensioner’s Hall (318 Keary Street). All members are encouraged to attend.
This is written notice of CUPE Local 387’s intention to vote on proposed amendments to its Local Bylaws and pass its 2024 year budget at the January 30, 2024 General Membership Meeting.
Please note this is a date change from the normal general membership meeting schedule.
These are important topics and votes which may have impact on your rights as a CUPE Local 387 member, therefore please make every effort to attend.
Meeting location will be the Sapperton Pensioners Hall (318 Keary Street) starting at 5:00 p.m.
A quick update to let everyone know the City, Library and Police Board have all ratified the tentative agreement. This is the last step in the bargaining process, and officially concludes this round of bargaining.
We want to thank all members for their support throughout this round of negotiations. It was a long round of negotiations, and your support made a significant difference in the outcome.
The HR & Payroll Departments are working hard at trying to get the retroactive payments done as soon as possible.
Once the retroactive payments have been complete, inflation payments for those employed at the time of ratification will be followed on a separate pay period.
Please take a look at the CUPE Media Release that was released today.
We are pleased to announce that today we reached a tentative agreement with the City, Library, and Police Board.
The bargaining committee wants to thank members for their ongoing support during this round of negotiations. This was a long and challenging round of bargaining, but we feel confident that we were able to negotiate a new contract that is in line with other settlements in our region and addresses your key priorities.
A ratification meeting will be held virtually on Zoom tomorrow, Wednesday October 18, from 5:30 – 6:30 PM. Advanced registration is required and you can register for the meeting here.
Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the meeting. A few notes:
1. We need to make sure everyone in the meeting is eligible to vote – please double check the name displayed when you sign into Zoom is the same name the employer has on record. (if there are any challenges with this please send us a private message)
2. Test your network connection in advance.
3. Each member should log in on their own device so they can participate in the vote.
4. Consider joining the meeting on a computer vs. cell phone because the voting function is more easily accessible on a computer. (but you can vote from either device)
5. The call-in option will not be available for this meeting – as members won’t be able to vote if they have called in.