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Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017
B.C. hotel
bargaining
begins: Unifor
VANCOUVER — Several ho-
tels in downtown Vancouver
and Victoria are in bargain-
ing with Unifor this summer
as hospitality workers seek to
share in the economic success
of the hotel industry, said the
union.
"We look forward to bar-
gaining fair wages and healthy
working conditions in Van-
couver and Victoria hotels,"
said Jerry Dias, Unifor national
president.
Workers at the Hotel Van-
couver, the Coast Coal Har-
bour, the Residence Inn, and
the Hotel Grand Pacific are
looking to make gains during a
time in which they are enjoying
strong sales and profits.
They will join Unifor mem-
bers at the Empress Hotel in
Victoria, who made substantial
gains in 2016 bargaining, ac-
cording to the union.
Unifor will deal with core
workplace issues such as re-
ducing housekeeping work-
loads and increasing gratuities,
but the union is also eager to
enshrine social justice lan-
guage in the new contracts, in-
cluding a program dealing with
domestic abuse and funding a
women's advocate, according
to Unifor.
Quebec
crossing
guards reject
agreement
DRUMMONDVILLE, Que. —
At a general meeting on June 12,
Drummondville, Que., school
crossing guards rejected the
agreement in principle reached
on May 11 between the City and
the Canadian Union of Public
Employees (CUPE).
The crossing guards have
availed themselves of their right
to strike, which they will exercise
at the appropriate time, said the
union.
"Despite being in excellent fi-
nancial health, Drummondville
still refuses to present an offer
that would enable the crossing
guards to match the salaries of
those in comparable cities. In
addition, the city does not want
to address the important issue of
paying for scheduled leave," said
Nina Laflamme, CUPE union
representative.
The salaries of these crossing
guards were barely higher than
minimum wage for 20 years.
They do not have any kind of
uniform, are not given any sick
or moveable leave and experi-
ence administrative difficulties
with the employer, according to
CUPE.
"The crossing guards certainly
do not feel respected or recog-
nized for the work they do. But
it's particularly disturbing not
to have the first agreement after
more than a year of talks," said
Laflamme.
PSAC, NCC
talks break off
OTTAWA — After three days
of bargaining, negotiations
between Public Service
Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
and the National Capital
Commission (NCC) broke off
June 14 with no progress and
no agreement, said PSAC.
The parties have been in bar-
gaining since Feb. 2015, when
the two sides exchanged propos-
als and demands. For two years,
the NCC refused to negotiate in
good faith, according to PSAC.
The union had filed for concil-
iation in Jan. 2017, but the pro-
cess was put on hold after a few
weeks in order to give bargaining
another chance, said the union.
Photo:
Max
Rossi
(Reuters)
LABOUR LENS
People queue for a taxi during a 24-hour national public transport strike at Termini central station in Rome
on June 16.
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