As everyone knows, recent weeks have seen a dramatic increase in the media’s coverage of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). While most information coming out has been based on the facts, there has also been a great deal of speculation and misinformation that can spread rapidly.

Moist, Barlow, local residents call for protection and expansion of Medicare

CAMPBELL RIVER—More than 200 people crammed into the Maritime Heritage Centre here on Monday night (October 20), as CUPE National President Paul Moist and Council of Canadians National Chairperson Maude Barlow led a spirited town hall meeting that called for an end to the Harper Conservative government’s gutting of public health care.

CAMPBELL RIVER—With Prime Minister Harper’s Conservative government cutting $5 billion from health care funding to our province over the next decade, the Conservatives are taking health care in the wrong direction.

To share more information about what’s at stake, CUPE National President Paul Moist and Council of Canadians National Chairperson Maude Barlow will be the featured guest speakers at a pair of special public health care town hall meetings to be held on Vancouver Island early next week.

BURNABY—In advance of next month’s elections at the BC Federation of Labour convention in Vancouver, CUPE BC’s executive board has voted unanimously to endorse Amber Hockin for President and Aaron Ekman for Secretary-Treasurer.

“Our executive members know Amber Hockin very well from her work at the Pacific Region of the Canadian Labour Congress, and once they heard she’d put her name forward for President of the BC Fed there was strong support for her candidacy,” said CUPE BC President Mark Hancock.

VANCOUVER—Amber Hockin, a longtime activist with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and currently the Pacific Region Director of the Canadian Labour Congress, and Aaron Ekman, from the BCGEU and past President of the North Central Labour Council, today launched their campaign for President and Secretary-Treasurer of the BC Federation of Labour. The Federation’s 56th Convention will be held in Vancouver November 24-28.

Pivot Legal Society photo project builds community by helping people, says Faoro

VANCOUVER—With the launch of its 2015 calendar at a packed awards ceremony on Wednesday morning, the Pivot Legal Society (PLS) celebrated the twelfth anniversary of its Hope in Shadows project to a chorus of praise from community leaders and union sponsors, including CUPE BC.

YEARS OF SERVICE—CUPE BC President Mark Hancock presented retirement gifts to Rocco Mastrobuono (left) and Gerry Shmon.

CASTLEGAR—CUPE BC President Mark Hancock, along with general vice-presidents Susan Blair and Ian Norton, CUPE Regional Director Robin Jones, and several staff members joined local activists on the weekend to celebrate the many contributions of retiring Kootenay District Council President Gerry Shmon.

KELOWNA – Looming cuts to staff and services at the Okanagan Regional Library (ORL) will limit access to important community services and supports, says CUPE.

Proposed cuts, including 375 staff hours in 19 library branches across the Okanagan would not only limit library and other services and reduce the number of hours that libraries are open to the public, they would also mean that many more of the smaller branches will become one-person operations, raising serious safety concerns for staff working alone.

CASTLEGAR – Workers at the City of Castlegar are seeking further talks with the employer in order to reach a new collective agreement and avoid full strike action.

Following mediation in September, members of CUPE 2262 met last night to review the mediator’s recommendations. After thorough review and discussion of the mediator’s report, the recommendations were resoundingly rejected by city workers.

RICHMOND—The Ambulance Paramedics of BC (CUPE 873) have released a framework document for implementing community paramedic programs in British Columbia that is aimed at making the best use of one of the largest ambulance services in the world.