A suite of progressive resolutions encouraging COPE to take action on a number of key social, environmental, and economic issues have been passed unanimously at the COPE-SEPB National Convention today.

The resolutions, which range from a call-to-action on global warming to a call to lobby the federal government to implement a $10 an hour national minimum wage, were forwarded to the convention by COPE 378 delegates, who have taken a lead role in setting progressive and activist policy for the national union.

“We thought it was important to make sure that the issues and concerns that we have been working on as a Local are also represented, in policy and in action, at the National level,” said COPE 378 Executive Director Steve Toomey. Toomey’s motion calling for COPE-SEPB to take on the issue of climate change and to lobby all levels of government for emissions reductions while setting internal goals on limiting our carbon footprint, was one of the resolutions that received unanimous assent on Saturday.

Speaking at the tri-annual COPE-SEPB National Convention, COPE 378 President Andy Ross announced the results of the landmark victory of the BC Hospital Employees Union today in the Supreme Court of Canada.

“This is a victory for all unions, and all workers, across Canada,” said Ross, as he announced that the right to collective bargaining has been declared to be protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Delegates spontaneously erupted to the news with cheers and applause, and sent their congratulations and affirmations of solidarity to the HEU and the workers who were affected by the Campbell Government’s draconian legislation.

Noting that “COPE is a union that brings together Francophones and Anglophones; Quebec and the rest of Canada,” COPE-SEPB National President Jerri New opened the union’s tri-annual Convention in Quebec City.

Delegates from COPE locals across the country and SEPB in Quebec have gathered to discuss and debate a range of constitutional changes and policy resolutions that will guide the course of the union as it builds and grows in the years to come.
The convention will also be holding elections for President and Secretary-Treasurer. Current President Jerri New is retiring, and Serge Cadieux from SEPB is running to replace New. In addition, COPE 378 Vice-President Gwenne Farrell is running for the position of National Secretary-Treasurer.
Elections are being held on the final day of the convention on Sunday, June 10.
In addition to conducting the business of the union, the convention will also hear from several guest speakers, including Canadian Labour Congress Secretary-Treasurer Hassan Yussuff, and Harvard Professor Dr. Elaine Bernard, who also recently spoke at COPE 378’s inaugural convention in April.
Delegates from COPE 378’s Executive Board are representing the Local at the convention, and COPE 378 Vice President David Black also serves as Vice President for Region 4 (BC) on the National Executive.

Kin Leung looks very uncomfortable when I ask his co-workers at Hastings Racetrack if they know that they are working with a hero. He goes beat red and furtively shakes his head, clearly uncomfortable with the label he deserves for saving trainer Jim Morgan’s life in late May.

In Leung’s view, he was just doing his job when he was called over to help Morgan in the morning of May 17.

“He was purple and blue, and I knew right away it was a heart attack,” said Leung, a COPE 378 member who works in the First Aid department at Hastings.

COPE 378 members at Hertz Canada have voted overwhelmingly to ratify the new 3-year collective agreement.

Ratification meetings were held in Richmond on Monday May 28 and Tuesday May 29. A majority of members attended the meetings which were intended to discuss and debate the tentative agreement, which was signed by your bargaining committee and the employer on May 28.

Following discussions, members voted 80% in favour of ratification.

Highlights of the agreement include:

• 9.4 % compounded pay increase over 3 years
• 3 % increase retroactive to November 1, 2006
• Increase in safety boot allowance to $150 effective November 1, 2008
• Your union forced Hertz to abandon its planned 2-tier unequal wage scale
• Full recognition of seniority rights
• 3-year agreement

This collective agreement will now expire on October 31, 2009, putting the union in an advantageous bargaining position as Hertz prepares for the 2010 Olympic period. 

Dear members,
As part of our ongoing efforts to keep up to date with how members perceive their Union and the work that we are doing, we are conducting our semi-annual survey of members in the last week of May and first week of June.
Members may be receiving a phone call from the research company called Viewpoints based in Winnipeg. They have significant expertise in conducting this kind of research for unions and other progressive organizations in Canada. This information collected is kept anonymous and confidential, and Viewpoints only shares the data information with us, and your individual responses are kept completely confidential.
The call will only take a few minutes of your time and I would like to thank you in advance for taking the opportunity to provide your Union with your feedback on how your Union conducts its business.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the Sergeants and Staff Sergeants from the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service to COPE 378.

The Sergeants and Staff Sergeants voted today to join COPE 378 in a vote supervised by the Labour Relations Board.

COPE 378 currently represents GVTAPS Constables, as well as members throughout the transit system. 

The Sergeants and Staff Sergeants will be a valued and welcome addition to the COPE 378 family, and I am delighted to have them in our union.

Andy Ross, President

Meeting late into the night on Tuesday May 22, theCOPE 378 bargaining committee reached an 11th hour tentative agreement with Terasen Gas that is being recommended by the bargaining committee.

Details of the tentative agreement will be discussed with members at meetings scheduled for today, May 23, between 2:30 PM and 7:00 PM. In addition, memorandums of agreement will be mailed to all COPE 378 members at Terasen Gas throughout the Province on Thursday May 24.

Details regarding dates and times for ratification meetings and votes are currently being arranged. COPE 378 will be in touch with members as soon as the details of the meetings are finalized.

All COPE 378 members outside the Lower Mainland will receive mail-in ballots, as will members who are on leave. In addition, members of the bargaining committee will be in touch to discuss the details of the proposed agreement. If any other members require mail-in ballots due to an inability to attend a voting opportunity, please contact the union office by Friday June 1.

The Amalgamated Transportation Union (ATU) Local 1374, whose members provide Greyhound bus service across Western Canada, entered a legal strike position at midnight Thursday May 17th.  Pickets have now gone up at Greyhound locations throughout BC.

COPE 378 represents supervisory and dispatch staff at major depots throughout BC, who are showing solidarity with their sisters and brother from the ATU and respecting picket lines.

At its Executive Board meeting Thursday, COPE 378 passed a motion to access the union’s defence fund to provide assistance to members affected by the strike.

Thursday May 17, 2007

Hertz Canada backed off its hard line stance on monetary issues and came to a tentative 3-year agreement with COPE 378 on Thursday which includes a 9.4% wage increase over the course of the agreement.

The COPE 378 bargaining committee was able to secure a wage increase over the course of the agreement, as well as convincing Hertz to abandon their plans for a two-tiered wage scale that would have penalized newer employees and created a large casual workforce.

Highlights of the tentative agreement include: