' The Cadre, Tuesday, February 4, 1975, Page 9‘
red! “PEI 0nd elszllete in the public service
‘CIIPE invites ll of Toronto workers ‘to join union
TORONTO (CUP) A committee of employees at the Univer- sity of Toronto's Simcoe Hall and Physical Plant buildings have distributed a leaflet asking the 600 ‘ people employed thereLto‘ join the Canadian Union of Public Employees.(CUPE) The leaflet says "over the past two years our buying power has dropped 5 per cent. Inflation has risen 13 per cent while our average wage increases have added up to only 8 per cent a year.
I! of Calgary Support staff walks out over retroactive
CALGARY (CUP) -— University of Calgary students were greeted with picket lines set up by striking support staff workers,members of the Civil Servants Association of Alberta (CSA of A) on the opening day of classes last week. ‘ a
The support staff which includes workers from secr- etarial areas,food services theflihrary,games area,com- municationswmedia=as well as technicians,janitors and researchers are asking for a 7 percent .or $75 per month increase retroactive to September 1, 1974.
The University of Calgary Board of Governors approved a $75 per month increase starting this January but CSA turned down the offer because 27,000 provincial workers have already received retroactive raises. Support staff at the University of Lethbridge waged the same battle last fall and won.
The CSA has becbme,jmili— tant of neceSsity,' said Pat Walsh,chairman of CSA Local '36. Negotiations between the university and the union
came to an impasSe last April
and the union has been adh—' ering to an arbitration board decision which grants a semi-annual cost of living adjustment. _ ‘1.
Walshipoints out support staff is always at the end of the breadline and that theY've always accepted what was given. .
He said,"this strike is aimed at liberating the necessary funds from the provincial government."
The administration claims to SuppOrt the workers str— uggle in principle but says it doesn't have the necessary $500,000 to pay them and settle the strike. They say [the money should come from , _. ;.- r... N “F, -‘ . 0 » ,
"This economic upset affects not only our salaries .and real buying power but also job security,promotions and benefits. Unless we are organized into a professional association or a union,we'll have no say in what happens to us.
"We are largely non; ‘ professional non—academic employees and as such are in a particularly vulnerable position with regard to improving our wages and fringe benefits. But we are as necessary to the overa—
oil royalty filled provincial coffers which this year report an $800 million sur— plus.
However,since there is no provision for a strike in CSA contracts,the Board of
1Governors is aimingto slap
a court injunction on the affair later this week. The Students"Union and the University of Calgary Faculty Association feel
'that the money should come
from the province but both have released statements nullifying collective support. They urge students and faculty
to honour the picket lines but stress that if is a matter of individual choice. It has been pointed out that if the strike goes on for two or three weeks the money saved by not paying workers will be enough to meet wage demands. _Walsh admits,"It's a strike
province is giving the
leaflet.
"Conditions can only get worse,"Said the leaflet, "And we have no say what— ever. There is no guarantee that any salary increases will be equitable. Merit increases do not allow for a consistent substantial raises for everyone."
"We have arrived at the conclusion that the only realistic solution to our problems is the formation of a union of a technical and clerical staff in the Physical Plant and Simcoe Hall buildings."
My
tion of the university as any other group. "The new 1975-76 university budget is an example of our vulnerability. The
universities a basic incr— ease of 7.4 per cent at a time when the U of T is budgetingAfor at least
9 gpercent increase in provincial grants.
"And at a time when the rate of inflation is appro- ximately 13 percent' it is evident that someOne has to lose out,"said the
The Civil Service Association of Alberta is
not in any way connected with CUPE. Editor of principal. We've been sheep for so long...but not this time. It will certainly
put us in a stronger posit— ion come the next round of negotiations."
CUPE launches anti-discrimination drive
Ottawa (CUP) ———The Can— adian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has launched a major program attacking sex discrimin— ation within its own ranks and in the workplace. Stan Little, CUPE
national president says "the program approved by CUPE's national executive -board is to be carried out through International Women's Year 1975. It
is designed to promote the full participation
of women as union mem- bers and to encourage unionists to eliminate the discrimination wom-- en face at work and in the community."
II Women will also be encouraged to become more
«workplace andicommunity,"
effective in.ending sex discrimination in Contract negotiations through spe- cial seminars and workshops at member meetings.
"The union movemnet offers women a viable in- strument with which to achieve equality in the
ional executive board con- tains four women including the national secretary treasury, the highest postion a women holds. More than.40% of CUPE's 200,000 members are women. 7' "Despite these impr— ovements," said Little, "there still remains a great deal of descrimin— ation to overcome within the union as well as in the workplace where coll- ective bargaining can be effectively used.
"Job designation by sex has to end, job opp- ortunities for women have to be broadened and un— fair sex—discrimination penSion plans, group life insurance and fringe be- nefits have to be elim- inated."
said Little.
"By participating in programs like the 1970 Royal Commission on the Status of Women and its follow-up campaign in 1971 significant gains have been achieved by women."
He points out that 'discriminatory wage rates between nursing assistants and orderlies have been al— most eliminated since 1971.
>CUPE's 16 member nat—