CUPE represents nearly 8,000 education workers across Saskatchewan

REGINA – A new school year begins today across Saskatchewan, and CUPE represented education support staff are welcoming new and returning students to their first day of classes.

“CUPE education workers are dedicated to supporting the learning of Saskatchewan students throughout the school year,” said Jackie Christianson, Vice-President of CUPE Saskatchewan and chair of the CUPE Education Workers’ Steering Committee. “Students can count on CUPE members to help with the first day jitters and make time at school a successful and safe experience.”

CUPE represents nearly 8,000 education workers across Saskatchewan in the pre K-12 school system. From educational assistants to library assistants and technicians, custodians to trades workers, school secretaries to school bus drivers, social workers to computer technicians, CUPE members support Saskatchewan students each and every school day.

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Registration is now open for the Aboriginal Council Conference 2015 to be held November 19 – 20, 2015 at the Delta Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon.

Open to all CUPE members, the CUPE Saskatchewan Aboriginal Council Conference seeks to build union activism with a focus on equality and rights for Aboriginal people in our workplaces and communities. This year, participants will explore the history of Aboriginal community health, rights, and activism with a focus on building a more just and equitable future.

Elections to CUPE Saskatchewan’s Aboriginal Council Committee will also be held at the conference.

Early registration deadline: October 19, 2015

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Look for a CUPE SK event tent or display!

Labour Day is more than just a great day to get together with friends and family. It is also a day to celebrate the important contributions of unions in making life better for everyone.

Attend a Labour Day celebration in your community on Monday, September 7, 2015:

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Photo (left to right): CUPE volunteers Kristin Trondson; Melvin Ngo; Carla smith; Scott Barrett; Shar-lee Mayers Haichert; Clayton Wilson & son, Dylan

SASKATOON – CUPE volunteers were on hand delivering lunches to children in
six core community parks in Saskatoon on Friday, August 7, 2015 as part of
the Saskatoon and District Labour Council’s Summer Snack Program. Lunch on August 7th was sponsored by CUPE Saskatchewan.

Since 1988, the Summer Snack Program has been serving nutritious lunches in
inner-city parks to those that would otherwise go hungry. With assistance from many volunteers and the support of affiliated unions and local businesses, the program is expected to serve approximately 6,500 lunches during the months of July and August.

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As the Saskatchewan government embarks on a major public-private-partnership (P3) school build, it regularly assures the public that it has learned from the P3 mistakes of other jurisdictions. Despite these assurances, the recent Saskatchewan Auditor-General report and the hiring of Partnerships BC as a P3 advisor to the government demonstrates that rather than learning from the P3 mistakes of the past, the government seems poised to repeat them.

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Tom Graham, President, CUPE Saskatchewan

REGINA – With the announcement of a selected contractor team to build nine joint-use schools as a public-private partnership (P3), CUPE is calling for greater transparency surrounding the costly P3 process.

“We have significant concerns about accountability and transparency when it comes to P3s and other forms of privatization,” said Tom Graham, President of CUPE Saskatchewan. “The government has said they will not share the contracts and the full price tag of P3 schools with the public until negotiations are complete, but the public deserves to know the costs upfront.”

Earlier this month, the calculations used by SaskBuilds to justify proceeding with P3s came under fire from the provincial auditor. Furthermore, briefing notes obtained through Access to Information requests revealed that the Ministry of Education previously determined: “P3s are an expensive public procurement approach because they involve higher interest rates, a more expensive bidding process, third party advisors and a profit margin”.

“Across the country, we have seen many examples of the problems associated with P3s,” said Graham. “Nova Scotia’s provincial auditor found that its 39 P3 schools cost $32 million more than if they had been built publicly. In Alberta, the Calgary School Board opted out of the P3 process because the conventional way would be built faster.”

CUPE is calling on the government to demonstrate transparency and accountability by disclosing all contracts and costs related to public-private partnerships.

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Pride festivities across Canada and around the world held annually in June offer an opportunity to celebrate diversity, to promote inclusiveness and to highlight the human rights issues that affect Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, and Intersex (LGBTTI) members of our union and our communities.

 
In the workplace and in our communities, unions are at the forefront in protecting LGBTTI workers from discrimination and harassment, and supporting human rights, dignity and equality for all workers.

 
As Saskatchewan’s community union, CUPE proudly celebrates Pride and the role unions play in making our country a more fair and inclusive place for everyone.

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Tom Graham, President, CUPE Saskatchewan

REGINA – CUPE applauds the Provincial Auditor’s report for highlighting concerns about SaskBuilds’ use of unsubstantiated numbers, but is raising red flags about their reliance on an out-of-province consultant with a biased approach to P3s.

“If the government claims Saskatchewan is going to have a different approach to costly P3s, then why is it adopting faulty advice from a BC crown corporation criticized by its own government?,” questioned Tom Graham, President of CUPE Saskatchewan.

SaskBuilds is spending $5.6 million for advice from Partnerships BC, which has faced tough criticism from British Columbia’s Ministry of Finance for being biased in favour of P3s. Partnerships BC, established in 2002 to advise the government of British Columbia, receives all of its revenue from consulting fees. SaskBuilds has a comprehensive contract with Partnerships BC to develop four P3s: the Swift Current long term care centre, the North Battleford Integrated Hospital and Correctional Project, nine joint-use schools, and the Regina Bypass Project.

“We are beginning to see that the provincial government, through SaskBuilds, is exaggerating the costs of public sector procurement so it can push its expensive P3 model,” said Graham. “The track record of costly P3 mistakes across Canada should be enough evidence to show that P3 privatization is the worst way to finance the building of new infrastructure.”

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Tom Graham, President, CUPE Saskatchewan

“Passing more costs to patients and draining the public health care system of resources and professionals is not about innovation or choice; it is the return to the days before Medicare,” wrote Tom Graham, President of CUPE Saskatchewan, in a letter to the editor challenging the provincial government’s introduction of two-tier health care with user-pay MRI scan legislation.

Graham noted other jurisdictions that have experimented with private pay-per-use scans witnessed an overall increase in wait times, while investment in the public health care system has reduced Saskatchewan’s wait times.

“This [user-pay MRIs] is completely contrary to the founding principle of Medicare that need, not one’s ability to pay, should determine access to care.”

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Join Dr. Morina Rennie and Dr. Bill Bonner for a presentation about how key data on the costs of the Regina Waste Water Treatment Plant public private partnership (P3) have never been disclosed.

Rennie and Bonner are professors from the University of Regina School of Business who have studied the publicly released documents on Regina’s first P3. They will discuss what was said, what we know and what we don’t know about the P3 costs.

Town Hall
June 1, 2015
7:00 p.m.
The Artesian (2627 13th Ave, REGINA)

Event hosted by: Regina Water Watch

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