Send a Message. Make a Difference for Local TV

You can make a real difference for Local TV. It was done once with CHEK TV. Lets do it again for all the CEP members working in Local TV.

Act Now. Send a Message. Make a Difference.

Tell the CRTC why local TV matters to you and why you want the cable bill rip-off to stop!

There is only one way to be heard and make a difference. YOUR comments must be submitted directly to the CRTC before November 2, 2009. It’s as simple as 1, 2, or 3, and you can do it right now and we are here to help.

In a press release CEP says Navigata is bad business move for SaskTel. Well you would think that you could have someone with some business creditability say a comment in the press release. Should you not be commenting on how many jobs Navigata is going to save or how many CEP members jobs are being lots by the sale. If you don't know how many member you have how can you comment on if "Navigata sale" is bad business move for Sasktel? To check out how many members CEP has go to http://cepunion.blogspot.com/. If is such a bad business deal why not have the Communication Energy and Paperworkers Union invest in the company to protect CEP members jobs?

Navigata sale bad business move for SaskTel
October 19, 2009
The announced sale of SaskTel’s Navigata is a bad move for the Crown Corporation says Canada’s largest telecommunications union.

“SaskTel developed Navigata to compete with other telecommunications companies which threatened SaskTel’s business,” said Sol. “And now they’ve just tossed it away in a manner that leaves SaskTel more vulnerable. How does that put Saskatchewan first?”

Labour movement needs to capture the popular imagination
By Gary Engler
October 16, 2009
Rabble.ca

Unions are stuck in a rut that seems to be getting deeper every day. We are losing members to layoffs, plant shutdowns and to bankruptcies that are the result of a worldwide financial crisis. Our membership and influence are shrinking at exactly the moment when union power is needed to protect millions of workers from wage rollbacks, outsourcing, unemployment and the devastation of entire communities dependent on single industries.

But, aren’t tough times good for union organizing? Unfortunately the answer, so far in this economic crisis, is no. So far there has been no rush to join unions, no mass mobilizations of the unemployed and no growth of militancy of any kind. Perhaps if the crisis continues workers will once again become militant, just like in the Depression of the 1930s when it wasn’t until five years into the economic crisis that there was an explosion of organizing, which included sit-down strikes, factory occupations, mass political movements and the creation of huge new industrial unions.

The rut that CEP is presently in is going to get much bigger. How much money has been spent on organizing by CEP? I would guess very little money has been spent on organizing. More time has been spent to ensure those that are in power are kepted in power. There is really no desire to organize. It has been talked about but not much action. The emphisis has been on attracting and merging with other organizations not on grass roots organizing. If fact more members have decided to leave then have been organized within CEP.

CAW Local 219.
In 2001, we broke away from Communication Energy and Paperworkers and joined the Independant Paperworkers Union and in 2002 we joined the Canadian Auto Workers Union.

On March 17, 2009 the employees at the Nevis Gas Plant held a Revocation vote supervised by the Labour Board. The CEP was voted out by at least 80% of the employees.  Communications, Energy and Paperworkers, Local 5060

It really hard to build trust and develop relationships that you need when you have a hiden agenda and make decisions behind closes doors.

An agenda created behind closed doors. An agenda that is undemocratic.

There are some locals like CEP Local 433 that are offering members incentives to provide organizing tips. Although it seems CEP Local 433 is not growing any faster than other CEP Locals at least it is one trying to get people engaged about organizing their work sites.

Think you know someone who wants to become unionized? It could pay off big time!

    CEP Local 433 is willing to pay $1000 to the first member to give information that leads to a certification of a plant with between 50 and 99 people, eligible to vote for certification.

    A payment of $2500 is available to the first member to give information that leads to a certification of a plant with over 100 people eligible to vote for certification.

Have a Wonderful Labour Day Weekend

While others might talk about how a system is broken and looking for a spark. Tired and old leadership without the ability to light the imagination of the rank and file with a YES WE CAN ATTITUDE. A leadership that wants all the power at the top and then wonders where the rank and file is; needs to be changed. A rank and file lead union that educates, mobilizes and engages is what the membership needs. That is the spark that will lead to change that is needed and that will lead to being heard in the political arena. I have heard from so many saying that I am no longer a CEP member there is nothing that I can do. This must change.

But as we enjoy the labour day take some time to reflect on the struggles that have happened before us. There were many gains made by working people of this country and none of it was easy. Yes we are in another struggle, how do we engage our friends, family and neighbors to come together to see and understand that collectively we can accomplish and have accomplished so much. There is a need to see hope and that a difference is being made.

As we head into the fall there will be many new developments. But for right now enjoy and if you are coming to one of the many labour day functions across the country remember to take a family member, friend or co-worker. If your unable to make it to one of the many functions take a moment to reflect on all those that have struggled before us to get what we enjoy.

http://cepunion.blogspot.com/

Study to Study Barriers Within the CEP

If you are interested in taking the survey it Must be completed by August 31, 2009.

I am CEP Forestry member over 61 who has recently been laid off. I want my union to become responsive to all sectors and all members needs.

Barriers to getting involved. Well there are many barriers to getting involved in CEP.. From a lack of rank and file leadership in keeping the executive officers in check to lack of accountability to the membership. There is no way to get my opinion out without being labelled as a trouble maker or some other label in an attempt to take away my power. CEP did not mine when I was causing trouble for the company and holding them accountable for their actions. Now that I am holding CEP accountable it seems that I am a trouble maker.

I am expected to volunteer my time without any acknowledgment or appreciation; that I am doing my union position on my own time. When I am not getting attacked by the National I am getting attached by my members who see very little action or would like to have things proceed more quickly. When I ask for help to get more members involved union staff seems uninterested or do not care. There seems to be only one focus and it is on the Forestry sector. Even though I am from the forestry sector I see my brothers and sisters being laid off and let go in sectors all around me on a daily basis. When I approach my rank and file board members as CEP is suppose to be a rank and file union to raise important issue at the board my calls are not returned. The rank and file board members seemed more interested in getting the next union representative position then trying to raise any issues or concerns at the board meetings. The rank and file board members stopped returning my phone calls as soon as it be came clear that my membership would no long be going to the CEP convention. As we were all laid off.

I am left to wonder what happened to a union that was suppose to be a rank and file lead union. Instead it has become a union concerned only about what is in it for me and not what is best for all members or all sectors.

You will not see a press release from the Forestry National or even the Ontario region to express out rage about the state of manufacturing. The engine that drives the Canadian economy.

Thank you brothers and sister of CEP Local 132-0 you are truely going to be missed within CEP. You held on for so long on the picket line and not giving in when it would have been easy to do so. When other CEP locals are signing contracts that allow for different wage rates or benefits for new employees you stood firm and picketed without much fan fare. While the forestry five have toured across the country talking about forestry jobs. You were on the picket line fighting.

CEP’s “Jobs Worth Fighting For"

In short, forestry jobs are worth saving and forestry workers are worth supporting.

In SHORT there are other manufacturing jobs and other sectors jobs that are worth saving other sectors are worth supporting.

 

Strike-plagued Lever factory declares bankruptcy

Aug 11, 2009 04:30 AM
Jesse McLean
Staff Reporter Toronto Star

For 36 years, Jim Smith has reported to the old Lever Brothers soap factory at the foot of the Don Valley Parkway. For 14 months, a padlocked gate has kept him and more than 100 other striking workers outside.

Today, Smith and the other workers will dismantle the picket line – actually a shantytown of wood panels and tarps – and he'll walk away from the now-bankrupt plant for good.

To where, he doesn't know.

"A lot of us have been trying to go out and get jobs, but we don't have much skills," the 59-year-old said of his fellow workers, many of whom have been working at the plant for more than 30 years with little more than a high school diploma. "We just know that factory. That's it."

The drawn-out strike is to end today. The plant's owner, Korex Don Valley, has filed for bankruptcy, leaving the 110 remaining workers – members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada local 132-0 – searching for work.

"It's bittersweet. We knew this end was coming for a long time, so we're happy it's over," Smith said.

While Funtig is still evaluating the company's assets, union spokesman David Moffat said the union doesn't expect Korex is worth enough to offer severance, let alone the outstanding vacation pay owed to workers.

They have been receiving $250 a week from the union throughout the strike.

"It's grim. Really, really grim," Moffat said.

There seems to be some confusion about Port Alice. It would seems that Port Alice is not part of the Western Pattern in pulp and paper. So I guess you could say that the Port Alice deal was a survival deal for the CEP members of CEP Local 514. I am sure that Catalyst would like to be able renegotiate the contact that they signed only 9 months ago.

The numbers being quoted by the western region for the amount is pulp and paper was 40,000 less than a year ago November 2008. This was when the national as late as May 2009 was quoting

The 150,000-member CEP represents more than 60,000 forestry workers, including about 8,000 AbitibiBowater employees.

Port Alice Mill Re-opening

CEP Western Region Vice President Dave Coles congratulated the Local 514 executive board for hammering out an agreement under the worst of circumstances. Coles said, “They have put in place a contract that not only allows the mill to re-open, but provides a basis for negotiating improved contracts in the future.”

Tentative Agreement Reached Between Catalyst and CEP

This new agreement which will be offered for ratification by the union locals in the coming weeks provides for the implementation of the CEP Industry Pattern Agreement as well as a commitment to complete plans which will assist Catalyst Paper in reaching its stated goal of an $80/tonne labour cost structure. These initiatives are intended to help solidify the viability of these operations for the future. The new four-year agreement will also provide a stable labour relations environment through to 2012 as the two parties deal with today’s difficult market conditions.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada represents 150,000 members from coast to coast, including 40,000 members in the pulp and paper industry.

COMMENTS FROM CEP LOCAL 1123 BLOG

Wish they had had the time to meet with the general membership but then again if my memory serves me correctly Dave Coles last reception wasn’t that cordial. Heard the rumor a couple of days ago that the company wanted to talk. Is their being in town have anything to do with that?
Is Mr. Coles going to negotiate another “survival contract” like he did in Port Alice?

Comment by Gord Hartley | July 31, 2009 | Reply

The Company wanting to talk,(or as it appears – not wanting to) had nothing to do with their visit. They were here to give us an update on the continuing National Forestry Campaign, and what actions are still being worked on to make it the campaign a success.

As far as your comment about the “Survival Agreement”, lets not confuse things…
Yes Dave Coles played a large role in that agreement, but it was an agreement reached to have Catalyst utilize JVDriver as their contractor of choice. It has nothing to do with Port Alice

Comment by Ian | July 31, 2009 | Reply

Although the article states that CLAC was the only union that wanted changes to CILRA CEP issued a press release saying. Saskatchewan changes “a giant step forward for construction workers”

“With 80% of construction workers in the province being non-union, and the remainder represented by American unions, this is giant step forward for construction workers in the province,” says Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

“CEP’s construction arm will work to change that, and we will also work to ensure that workers who are laid off in other sectors of the economy, can transition to construction, when skills permit,” says Coles

What can you do?

You can sign a petition:

http://www.gopetition.com/online/28767.html

You can join face book group:
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/316293?m=3f1cca43

Building trades slammed by Bill 80, changes to CILRA

Kerry Westcott, United Brotherhood
of Carpenters and Joiners Local
1985 organizer

May 2009 Labour Reporter
The Construction Industry Labour Relations Act (1992) (CILRA) sets out a system of collective bargaining in the construction industry on a province-wide basis between employers’ organizations and trade unions. Unionized contractors elect leaders to bargain province-wide collective agreements with the elected leaders of building trades unions, trade by trade. Six employers’ organizations bargain collective agreements with 12 construction trade unions covering 24 of Saskatchewan’s apprenticeable trades.

Construction projects have been organized on a trade basis since craft guilds built gothic cathedrals. There are several good reasons why Saskatchewan, and nearly all the industrialized nations, bargain provincial construction agreements this way.

Industry stability
Prior to the CILRA, every contractor had a different agreement with a different expiry date. It was very chaotic and de-stabilizing for the industry. Contractors crave certainty and in fact petitioned for this system originally. The CILRA has served the industry well. There hasn’t been a construction strike since 1982.

Strong apprenticeship System

The other important reason for province wide, craft-based collective agreements
concerns the apprenticeship system. The apprenticeship system in Saskatchewan is
driven by the trade unions and its joint training committees (JTCs), composed of contractor and trade union representatives. The JTCs find the most apprentices, supply the talent on the trade advisory boards, and do much of the most critical training of our new tradespeople. The CILRA was repealed by Devine in 1983 and reinstated in 1992. During the decade when there was no CILRA or JTCs, the apprenticeship system ground to a halt. As a result, today we have a serious shortage of journeypersons.

What will Bill 80 do?

The repeal of the CILRA in 1983 was a near death experience for many of the trades. The industry went from 70% to 20% unionized in just a few years. Some construction locals lost three quarters of their membership. It was a time of recession and wages fell to half of what they had been. Bill 80 is taking us back to that time. It allows organizing by craft, by company or by project by any union. A “union” other than a building trades union will be able to solicit “voluntary recognition” from a project owner or his contractor and sign a project collective agreement governing the jobsite. It could be five years in duration. So the owner or construction manager of any project could sit down with a “union”or with a representative of an “employees association” and they could voluntarily recognize one another and ink a project agreement covering the entire life of the project. It could be a craft-based or industrial agreement. It may, or may not, have provisions to facilitate apprenticeship, or make pension contributions or other benefits. And it could be a done deal before the building trades even know there is a project. Another important change to note is that maintenance work will no longer be covered by the CILRA. Maintenance provides over half the work of many building trade unions. This is devastating for the building trades.

Who asked for Bill 80 and why do we need it?

On March 6th, just a few hours before it was introduced in the legislature, the building trades got e-mails from labour minister Rob Norris inviting them to a lock-up meeting to view bill 80. There had been no prior consultation with the building trades or the unionized contractors’ association. In answer to a direct question from SFL president Larry Hubich, we were told there had been no consultation
with any labour organizations. Only CLAC, the Christian Labour Association of Canada,
wanted Bill 80. Do we need a change in how bargaining works for the building trades?
Like the essential services act, Bill 80 is a solution to a non-existent problem. The organized building trades only do about 20 per cent of all construction work. Eighty percent is already non-union or is contested spin off contractor’s work. The 20 per cent we do perform tends to be the most complex work. The building trades have the capacity to do large complex jobs and complicated large mill renovations under “shut down” time constraints. What is to be gained by further marginalizing the building trades? What problem is the Sask. Party government trying to fix?
Bill 80 is designed to put the building trades at the far margins of our industry. And we will be unable to influence wages or conditions in our industry. It will be very destabilizing to labour relations and apprenticeships. There will be wildcat strikes, job site confrontations, neglect of the apprenticeship system and way lower wages for all construction workers, union or not yet union.

The Fightback

The building trades are developing a campaign to have Bill 80 thrown out. And
we call on the rest of organized labour to stand by us and pressure the government not to pass Bill 80. It won’t reach second reading until the fall so there’s time to make the case to scrap Bill 80, and support the oldest trade unions in the province.

Globe and Mail employees have reached a tentive agreement. Details to follow.

CEP is Meeting with the Liberals

CEP is demanding that the Liberals defeat the Conservatives over inaction on the forestry issues. Press Release

A petition has been setup to show your support for the Forestry Five wanting to call another election. If you get a chance please sign it.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-the-forestry-industry.html

SUPPORT LOCKED OUT CEP LOCAL 2003 MEMBERS

If you unable to show your support at the picket line please show your support on line. SIGN the PETITION

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/support-cep-local-2003.html