This has been a rollercoaster year for members of CUPE Local 1004, the City of Vancouver’s outside workers’ union.
The local also represents workers at the Pacific National Exhibition and Playland, EasyPark, PHS Community Services Society, Vancouver Native Housing Society and a variety of student and/or faculty associations at community colleges and junior universities.
The civic workers got a 6.75% raise in January. That was the highlight of 2013. Then the executive staved-off a mutiny. Eventually, the national office fired the board and put Local 1004 under administration. There was a bizarre, sad case of self-immolation at the local’s office. An ex-Hells Angels’ member was hired to work for the city as a garbage collector. A workplace survey exposed widespread discontent among the rank-and-file. Read the summary of the horrible year here.
Now comes a bid to radically overhaul the Local 1004 bylaws at a meeting scheduled for Nov. 27. A source tells me consultation has been minimal, at best. The original meeting to consider changes on Nov. 5 was postponed with a day’s notice. Among the proposals is a new requirement for bonding the executive.
There is also an added equality statement, code of conduct and rules of order.
The new bylaws also include provisions for elections in the second week of February. The requirement for candidate eligibility used to be attendance at six of the last 12 regular membership meetings. If the bylaws are passed, a candidate needs only to have attended two meetings in the last calendar year.
As always, the devil is in the details. I welcome any CUPE member to comment below or contact me in confidence.
See the new bylaws below.
Hey Bob, you forgot to mention the mysterious fire at 1004’s headquarters early in 2013. Not a word has been said about who did it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was someone within 1004 who was disgruntled at the former board of directors.