VANCOUVER- CUPE 1004 members at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) have voted overwhelmingly to accept a new three-year agreement.  Using a highly accessible online voting system managed through Simply Voting, members voted 84 per cent in favour of accepting the agreement.

Highlights include:

WHISTLER - Last night at the annual convention of the Union of BC Municipalities, CUPE BC hosted a reception for mayors and councillors from all over the province. Secretary-Treasurer Paul Faoro welcomed attendees and delivered the following remarks.

Thanks for the introduction, Trevor.

I’m not going to take very much of your time tonight. I don’t think anyone really wants to hear one more speech after several days of listening to nothing but.

So I’ll keep this very short.

BURNABY – CUPE’s Universities Coordinated Bargaining Committee (UCBC) has launched a new campaign to draw attention to the BC Liberals’ abysmal record on funding post-secondary education.

SECHELT — CUPE 391 members working at the Sechelt Library and the Sechelt Public Library Association Board have ratified a new collective agreement.

The four-year, no-concessions deal includes wage increases of 1.25%, 1.4%, 1.6% and 1.75% respectively.  Improvements to contract language include better bereavement leave, reduced probation time for casual and part-time employees and improvements to vision care and medical benefits. The new agreement is retroactive to July 1 and expires on June 30, 2018.

BURNABY—A B.C. government report on wages and salaries paid by local governments—“leaked” by a right-wing special interest group that contributed to the report—represents a direct assault on the autonomy of elected municipal councils, CUPE BC President Mark Hancock said today. The report recommends the establishment of a provincial body to control compensation levels and conduct bargaining with civic employees.

PARKSVILLE – CUPE Local 401 and the City of Parksville have reached a new tentative collective agreement. The four-year contract includes wage increases totaling eight per cent over four years beginning Jan. 1, 2014 and running until Dec. 31, 2017.  The wages will be implemented by a 1-per-cent hike every January and July 1st.

The new agreement includes language improvements to the dental plan as well as an increased ‘dirty work’ bonus and improvements to the banked sick time language to include caring for a child as well as a spouse.

VICTORIA - CUPE civic workers in Greater Victoria have ratified new three-year deals.  The contracts run until Dec. 31, 2016 an includes wage increases of  1.75 per cent for the first year, one per cent in January 2015 and one per cent in July 2015, and two per cent in 2016. The final ratification votes were completed this week.

CAMPBELL RIVER - Striking members of CUPE Local 401 have overwhelmingly rejected a ‘last offer’ from the City of Campbell River. In a BC Labour Relations Board supervised vote, the workers rejected the city’s contract terms by more than 3-to-1.

ABBOTSFORD—CUPE 561, representing 150 transit drivers for the City of Abbotsford who work for the bus company First Canada, have ratified a four-year agreement that will see two-per-cent wage increases for each year plus an additional one per cent for Handydart drivers in the first year.

PENTICTON–CUPE workers have ratified a new collective agreement with the City of Penticton.  At a vote held last night, the members of CUPE Local 608 voted 89% in favour of a deal that has also been ratified by the City.