ATTN CUPE 1505 Members,
The following is a message sent to members CUPE 2545 and 2559 members (public and Catholic support staff), please see a message from me at the bottom of this email!
Dear members,
In a flagrantly anti-democratic violation of your voices and rights to free collective bargaining, the province has referred us to the provincial Dispute Inquiry Board.
This means that our legal strike is currently on hold. You must go to work tomorrow as usual.
The establishment of the Dispute Inquiry Board (DIB) delays the strike as no lawful strike can happen until certain conditions are met. If no settlement is reached, the earliest the Unions can go on strike is at least 30 days after the establishment of the DIB. The DIB cannot impose a collective agreement on the parties, it can only make recommendations. It is a clear mechanism to interfere with strike action.
If we don’t find a deal that is acceptable, we can then go on strike. This is legislation that is rarely used and has only been used once in the last decade or so.
We are disappointed in the government’s intervention and trying to silence our collective voices. However, this is all the more reason for us to remind the Employer and provincial government that we have demands to be met, and that we are angry.
We are asking that you go to work a half an hour early tomorrow (for regular in-school workers), dressed in purple and hold an information picket outside of your school before you go in tomorrow morning. You can wear your signs, wave your flags. Go into school at the time you are required to – 5 minutes before the bell to be at your spot ready to work. Your jobs with the students are important – and you are irreplaceable.
We will convene a solidarity picket on Saturday, September 21, 2024 downtown to show the government and the Employers that they can stifle our voices during school hours, but not indefinitely.
Your bargaining committees and strike committees are working on details and will provide them as soon as possible. Please reach out if you have any questions, but please note that we are all extremely busy planning for the days ahead and may not be able to respond quickly.
As President of CUPE Local 1505, I am asking all members that are not working tomorrow (September 17, 2024) to attend Dr. Clark school in a display of solidarity at 8:30 am. We can not stand by and allow undemocratic processes to be forced by Employers that are displaying they are nothing more than school yard bullies. This is…..simply said……unacceptable!
Craig Milley
President, CUPE Local 1505