Oct 2, 2012                                                                                                                                                         #5

 72-hour Strike Notice Filed

 Your Bargaining Committee has joined the rest of the university sector in moving to job action. CUPE 3338 along with locals from UBC, UNBC and TRU filed 72-hour strike notice on Monday during the regular BC CUPE University Coordinated Bargaining Committee meeting in Vancouver. That will put us in a legal position to carry out job action by midday on Thursday, Oct. 4.

Your Executive has endorsed the move as the only way forward to pressure SFU to get to the table with a mandate to bargain in good faith for a collective agreement after more than two years of fruitless talks.

The decision comes in the wake of the tentative settlement with 27,000 BCGEU members for a no concessions four-year deal with 1-1-1-1% wage increases in the second two years. With that deal on the table and BC’s volatile political climate, UCBC members are convinced that we must act now to press our demands for a fair and reasonable contract.

SFU’s refusal to negotiate monetary items until their pension table is finished is unacceptable. They are using that choice to avoid bargaining with us in good faith and the time has come to let them know that their choices are either to negotiate with us now or face escalating job action.

At 12:01pm on Thursday Oct. 4, CUPE 3338 will institute an overtime ban. More job action will follow.

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CUPE Workers Send SFU a Strong Message

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY— CUPE’s 1,020 support workers at SFU have had enough. After more than two years of fruitless talks at the bargaining table, CUPE Local 3338 members have voted overwhelmingly in favor of strike action.

The 78% strike mandate was tallied today after voting was held this week at SFU’s three campuses. The union must still file 72-hour strike notice at the BC Labour Board before taking job action.

CUPE 3338 president Lynne Fowler says the result clearly shows the level of frustration with the university, which has declined all efforts to bargain seriously since 2010.  The main issues are job security, inflation protection and wages.

“We would rather be at the bargaining table negotiating in good faith for a fair and reasonable contract. Instead, we are moving towards strike action to try to pressure this employer to come to the table with a mandate to actually settle a contract,” says Fowler. She added that the university has repeatedly refused to seriously consider a single union proposal, opting instead to focus on the separate pension table at SFU.

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Murray Bush
CUPE National Communications Representative
604 291 1940 ext 246
778 554 2234
@CUPE murray bush