BURNABY—Members of CUPE 1816 who work for Pacific Blue Cross are pulling out all the stops to make sure that the benefit provider’s upcoming December 13 Annual General Meeting is accessible to all primary plan holders who wish to participate in the election of PBC’s next board of directors.

In response to concerns about the holiday season date, the suppertime hour and the downtown location for the AGM, CUPE has made arrangements for transportation, food, and registration logistics to ensure the utmost convenience for everyone who makes the effort to vote.

“PBC has always been a good benefits provider,” said CUPE 1816 President Beth Miller. “But for the sake of retirees, families, injured workers, and others for whom PBC’s services are so critical, we need to make it better. And to make it better we need to engage PBC plan members in the democratic process.”

To help members get to the Westin Bayshore Hotel, a number of shuttle buses will be available to and from the hotel from 2-6 p.m. on December 13. These include shuttles at:

• Waterfront Skytrain and Seabus terminal. Look for the CUPE flags for directions to the bus.
• PNE Lot 9B West (east side of the PNE off Highway 1 on Bridgeway – see attached map). Buses will be leaving from 2:30 onwards. Free parking is available. E-mail Tina Meadows to book a spot on a bus: [email protected]  
  
• Pacific Blue Cross office, Canada Way and Gilmore in Burnaby
• Surrey
• Fraser Valley: there will be central pick-up points in Abbotsford, Chilliwack. The location for Langley is yet to be announced, and there is still room available.

Please inquire by email for specific details about these locations: [email protected].

At the Westin Bayshore Hotel (1601 Bayshore Drive, Vancouver), paid parking is available across the street at the Bayshore lot, and in the surrounding area.

Registration is from 3-6 p.m., when the AGM begins. As a primary beneficiary of Pacific Blue Cross, be sure to bring your PBC card (the same card used to pick up a prescription, printable at the CARESnet website) and your photo ID when you register.

CUPE BC will be hosting a registration room where you can have something to eat and sign up to win a prize while waiting to attend this important meeting. The election portion of the meeting will not go on too long, and everyone who has arrived by bus will be returned to the point of pickup after the meeting.

To arrange transportation, please contact Tina Meadows at: [email protected].

COPE 491