Regina public school voters demand more transparency and answers on P3 schools.

In a packed school gym on January 28, 2014, CUPE members and community activists successfully passed two resolutions at the annual meeting of the Regina Public School Board demanding more transparency and answers surrounding the proposed plan to fund the construction of three new schools in Regina using Public Private Partnership (P3) privatization schemes. Recently, the provincial government announced their controversial plan to build a total of nine new joint public/catholic schools using P3s.
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Tom Graham, President, CUPE Saskatchewan Division

“The solution is not to take away what others have achieved, but to extend pension coverage to more workers,” writes CUPE Saskatchewan President Tom Graham responding to a recent attack on public sector pension plans by the right-leaning Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“An expanded Canada Pension Plan (CPP), which the Canadian Labour Congress and eight of ten provinces support, would be one way to ensure all Canadians can retire in dignity. Unfortunately, Saskatchewan is one of two provinces that does not support an expanded CPP.”
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Hurry!  Registration is now open for the annual CUPE provincial Bonspiel to be held April 4 – 6, 2014 at the Granite Curling Club in Saskatoon.  Can’t make it out to curl?  Join the curlers at the banquet on Saturday, April 5, 2014 at the Granite Curling Club (extra banquet tickets available).

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Report: CEOs make 171 times the average Canadian working full time

By 1:11 p.m. on the first official work day of the year (January 2), Canada’s top 100 CEOs will already have pocketed what it takes most Canadians working full time an entire year to earn.  According to the annual review by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), Canada’s highest paid CEOs make 171 times the average Canadian worker.  PotashCorp of Saskatchewan CEO William Doyle is listed as the eighteenth highest paid among the top 100 highest paid Canadian CEOs in the report.

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Tom Graham, President, CUPE Saskatchewan Division

“Standing up for Saskatchewan jobs is the right thing to do.  Why then does the premier refuse to reverse government decisions that also result in job losses?,” writes Tom Graham, President of CUPE Saskatchewan, in a letter to the editor.  Referencing the premier’s appropriate attempt to mitigate layoffs by PotashCorp, Graham notes that misguided government decisions are also adding to a growing number of job losses in Saskatchewan.

Graham lists as examples the 250 layoffs at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, 400 jobs that will be eliminated across the province due to the wholesale privatization of health care laundry, and the 500 workers in Moose Jaw who will lose their jobs with the planned closure of Valley View Centre – a care home for people with disabilities who require a high level of support and services.

 
“Perhaps the premier can continue to stand up for his shareholders and reconsider misguided decisions that put Saskatchewan people out of work,” writes Graham.

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The privatization of health care laundry will result in the loss of approximately 400 jobs and the permanent closure of public facilities in Prince Albert, Weyburn, Yorkton, Moose Jaw, Regina and Saskatoon.

REGINA – A newly inked decade long health care laundry privatization contract with for-profit, Alberta-based corporation K-Bro Inc. means Saskatchewan will lose jobs and taxpayer funds will be diverted to corporate profits, says the union representing over 300 laundry workers in the public non-profit laundry facilities slated for closure across the province due to the privatization deal. The full cost of the contract between K-Bro Inc. and 3s Health – the agency set up to implement privatization of health care services – is not being disclosed.

“It’s shameful that the government is privatizing health care laundry with a ten year secret privatization contract that puts nearly 400 people out of work, funnels tax dollars to corporate profits and negatively impacts local communities – especially Prince Albert where 100 workers alone will lose their jobs,” says Tom Graham, President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) – Saskatchewan. “The government is favouring shareholders of an out-of-province corporation rather than standing up for its shareholders – the people of Saskatchewan.”

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National Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence Against Women, December 6

The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women was established to honour victims of the December 6, 1989 massacre at École Polytechnique in Montreal, where 14 women were murdered because they were women.  One of those women, Maryse Laganière, was a CUPE member who worked at the school.
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World AIDS Day December 1

REGINA – CUPE is renewing its support for those living with HIV and AIDS with members participating in World AIDS Day events and highlighting its HIV and AIDS Policy.  Observed annually on December 1, World AIDS Day is an important reminder of the community approach needed to support those living with HIV and AIDS, and the access to reliable public services required to further prevent the spread of the virus.
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Tom Graham, President, CUPE Saskatchewan Division

In a letter to editor appearing in today’s Leader Post, Tom Graham points out that CUPE is not alone in raising concerns about the government’s misguided plan to use public-private partnerships (P3s) to build new schools.

“Even local business groups recognize that P3 contracts do little for Saskatchewan’s economy, with higher overall pricetags and favouring big, out-of-province construction firms instead of using local expertise,” writes Graham.
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“Our issues are not with the residents of Melville and we hope to reach a fair settlement without major disruptions,” says CUPE 456 president Dwayne Kraft.

Details of the contract discussions will not be released publicly in respect of the bargaining process.
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