ABBOTSFORD - Striking non-emergency transfer ambulance attendants have put their job action on hold. The 105 members of CUPE Local 873-03 have successfully applied to the BC Labour Relations Board for a mediator in stalled talks with employer SN Transport for a first contract.

VANCOUVER – British Columbia’s 4,000 ambulance paramedics and emergency dispatchers are launching a major province-wide public awareness campaign today.

Imagine a World Without Paramedics is a multimedia campaign focused on the critical services paramedics provide throughout the province, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The TV, print and radio campaign will run for the next eight weeks in communities across B.C. The ads and commercials can be previewed at www.worldwithoutparamedics.ca

CUPE 873-03 members with We Care – SNT Be Fair shirts outside Abbotsford hospital.

ABBOTSFORD – SN Transport’s 105 unionized patient transfer attendants in B.C. have served 72-hour strike notice, effective at 12:01 am on Monday, March 2.  The move follows repeated failed attempts to negotiate a first collective agreement. 

VANCOUVER—CUPE BC’s Committee Against Racism and Discrimination offered a rare glimpse into bygone Vancouver with a Black History Month event on Saturday (February 21) that celebrated the rich social and cultural history of the Hogan’s Alley community in the city’s Strathcona neighbourhood.

VANCOUVER—Deep in the heart of the city’s downtown core, decades before the Georgia viaduct was built, there once was a thriving Black neighbourhood known as Hogan’s Alley. The ghosts of that community will be dancing once again on Saturday morning and early afternoon (February 21), thanks to a Black History Month (BHM) event sponsored by CUPE BC.

OTTAWA—Public health care is a priority worth fighting for—and possibly the top priority for Canadians in the upcoming federal election, concludes a report released this week by CUPE and the Council of Canadians.

The report on the joint Health Accord Campaign is the result of a 15-month consultation in 15 communities, most of them targeted ridings narrowly won by the Conservatives in 2011. The campaign featured thousands of conversations in which Canadians shared their thoughts on how to protect, strengthen and expand the country’s most cherished social program, Medicare.

L-R: CUPE Presidents Karen Garrett (CUPE 556), Denise Bullock (CUPE 439) and Michelle Waite (CUPE 3479) deliver canned wild salmon to the Comox Valley Food Bank. Pictured with Food Bank president Jeff Hampton.

BURNABY—CUPE BC’s Executive Board voted this week to support the “Yes” campaign in the transportation and transit plebiscite to be held in Metro Vancouver this spring.

VICTORIA—The B.C. provincial budget introduced today continues the BC Liberals’ practice of “balancing” the budget on the backs of those who can least afford it, while cutting taxes for high-income earners, CUPE BC Secretary-Treasurer Paul Faoro said today.

NEW WESTMINSTER—Speakers at a public rally held on Saturday (February 14) in support of CUPE 7000 members called on Southern Railway to end the six-week lock-out—a dispute which, apart from hurting the workers most affected, has cost the company millions of dollars, caused numerous problems for its customers, and highlighted ongoing concerns about safety.