Canadian Union of Public Employees

Thurs, Nov 7th, 2024

 

Recently, we have seen that the PEI Government approved budget allocations for giant raises on 6-figure exec salaries without due process; at the same time, this government is forcing CUPE PEI healthcare members to go to binding arbitration instead of offering them fair wages at the bargaining table.

The Premier, Ministers, and Treasury Board don’t address unauthorized spending when it comes to CEOs and management, but they go out of their way to nickel-and-dime the frontline workers who actually keep the healthcare system going. If our members in the public health system (the majority of whom make $20.98/hr) are ever erroneously paid wages above their classification, that money has been immediately and meticulously reclaimed – yet these unauthorized salary increases (for those making over $100,000/year) not only slip past the supposed safe-guards in place, but also receive increased budget lines passed by this super-majority Conservative government. This incident isn’t an isolated event to be blamed on a few former Health PEI employees – it’s the latest is a long line of unilateral, uncollaborative decisions that undermine collective bargaining rights, obscure transparency, and avoid accountability. How much money has this government spent on travel nurses? How much money for private LTC beds, private clinics, and other private services, while short-changing the public system? How much money on one-time bonuses and ineffective incentives? How much more money on other unauthorized expenditures that were ‘missed,’ ‘overlooked,’ or ‘unfortunate oversights?’

An effective, transparent, and accountable government could have put all that money into real wage improvements, more staff positions, and better supports for all workers in the public system, making healthcare an attractive and sustainable career for Islanders again. Union leaders across the system have offered these solutions at every turn – from local labour management meetings and provincial ‘all-union partners’ meetings to holding public town halls and showing up at the legislature.

But no… rather than invest money into maintaining and strengthening the public system, this Conservative government flings money at executives, fobs their responsibility off on profiteering private enterprises, and short-changes and disrespects workers at every opportunity. This government has consistently showed that it either doesn’t have the will or the competence to effectively manage the essential public services that Islanders depend on.

In light of the startlingly disparate treatment of our frontline healthcare workers, CUPE PEI calls upon the King Government to immediately implement an appropriate wage mandate for workers and instruct their bargaining representatives to return to the table with the offer that our CUPE members so rightly deserve.

With increasing frustration and disappointment,

Ashley Clark
President, CUPE PEI

CUPE PEI President Ashley Clark congratulates the Air Canada Pilots on reaching a tentative agreement with their employer! A great example of how having the right to strike balances the scales of power and allows parties to come to a fair deal.

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CUPE PEI Young worker rep Mikayla Gallant responds to the troubling survey results released this week showing that island youth ranked last in Canada in life satisfaction and calls on the Government of PEI to strengthen our PEI public services in order to address the underlying issues of poverty and access to healthcare.

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Heat Warnings – Health and Safety Information

                        Avertissements de chaleur – Renseignements sur la santé et la sécurité

 

In light of the the recent heat warnings issued by Environment Canada, it is important for workers to take extra precautions to protect themselves and their coworkers from the effects of heat stress.

 

 

What is Heat Stress?

Heat stress is a buildup of heat in the body to the point where a worker cannot maintain a normal body temperature. When workers can’t cool themselves by sweating, serious heat illness can occur. Working in hot temperatures is a health and safety hazard and can lead to heat stroke which can be fatal.

 

 

 

Occupational Health & Safety Act

 

Because of potentially serious health effects, OHS legislation requires the protection of workers from heat stress. Therefore, workers exposed to work conditions that may lead to heat illnesses must be adequately protected. Your Employer is required to implement adequate control measures to provide the most effective protection against heat stress.

 

 

Control Measures

To prevent heat stress employers must ensure:

·        There is adequate ventilation

·        Provide fans for cooling unless the temperature reaches 35 Celsius at which point fans can do more harm than good

·        There are shaded areas available when working outside

·        Cool water is available to workers. Employees should be drinking at least 1 cup of water every 20 minutes even if not thirsty.

·        There are increased breaks with short work cycles (see chart below). Get to cool areas during breaks

·        More physically demanding work is done in the early morning or evening

·        Equipment that generates heat and is not being used is turned off

·        Medical help is called if a worker feels sick, dizzy, nauseated, has prickly skin, feels week or has sudden vision problems

 

 

 

 

Rest Periods

During periods of elevated temperatures, the frequency and duration of rest periods needs to be increased. To determine the duration of a rest period please refer to the tables below.  First get the Humidex (forecasted or current) for the general area. This can be obtained from Environment Canada’s website or another reliable source of weather information.

 

 

 

It should be noted that Humidex is preferred over temperature because it takes into account the effects of humidity. Therefore, Table 2 should only be used when Humidex is not available or below 35.

 

 

 

 

Table 1

Humidex Range Minimum Rest Period Every Hour
Humidex 35 to 37 Provide 10 minutes of rest
Humidex 38 to 40* Provide 20 minutes of rest
Humidex 41 to 43* Provide 30 minutes of rest
Humidex 44 and over* Provide continuous relief & continuous monitoring of workers, or redirect to other duties, or cease work activities

 

 

 

Table 2

Temperature Range Minimum Rest Period Every Hour
30 to 31 (with humidity <60%) Provide 10 minutes of rest
32 to 33 (with humidity <50%)* Provide 20 minutes of rest
34 to 35 (with humidity <50%)* Provide 30 minutes of rest
36 and over* Provide continuous relief & continuous monitoring of workers, or redirect to other duties, or cease work activities

* Remind workers to drink at least 1 cup of water every 20 minutes

 

 

   Étant donné les récents avertissements de chaleur émis par Environnement Canada, il est important que les travailleurs prennent des précautions supplémentaires pour se protéger et protéger leurs collègues contre les effets du stress thermique.

 

Qu’est-ce que le stress thermique ?

Le stress thermique est une accumulation de chaleur dans le corps au point où un travailleur ne peut pas maintenir une température corporelle normale. Lorsque les travailleurs ne peuvent pas se rafraîchir en transpirant, ils s’exposent a de graves troubles dus à la chaleur. Le travail à des températures élevées constitue un risque pour la santé et la sécurité et peut entraîner un coup de chaleur qui peut être mortel.

 

Loi sur l’hygiène et la sécurité au travail

 

En raison de leurs effets potentiellement graves sur la santé, la loi exige la protection des travailleurs contre le stress thermique. Par conséquent, les travailleurs exposés à des conditions de travail pouvant entraîner des maladies liées à la chaleur doivent être protégés adéquatement. Votre employeur doit mettre en œuvre des mesures de contrôle adéquates pour assurer la protection la plus efficace contre le stress thermique.

 

Mesures de contrôle

Afin d’éviter le stress thermique, l’employeur doit :

·        assurer une ventilation adéquate

·        fournir des ventilateurs pour rafraîchir l’air, a moins que la température atteigne plus de 35 degrés Celsius, auquel cas les ventilateurs sont plus nuisibles qu’utiles

·        prévoir des endroits ombragés pour le travail à l’extérieur

·        fournir de l’eau en quantité suffisante aux travailleurs. Les travailleurs devraient consommer au moins une tasse d’eau a chaque 20 minutes

·        accorder des pauses supplémentaires et prévoir des cycles de travail courts (voir tableaux ci-dessous) ainsi que des endroits frais pour les pauses.

·        faire exécuter le travail physiquement plus exigeant tôt le matin ou en soirée

·        les équipements qui génèrent de la chaleur et ne sont pas utilisés sont éteints

·        l’aide médicale est appelée si un travailleur se sent malade, étourdi, nauséeux, a la peau piquante, se sent mal ou a des problèmes de vision soudains

 

Périodes de repos

Pendant les périodes de températures élevées, la fréquence et la durée des périodes de repos doivent être augmentées. Pour déterminer la durée d’une période de repos, veuillez vous référer au tableaux ci-dessous.  Obtenez d’abord l’humidex (prévu ou actuel) pour la zone générale. Vous pouvez l’obtenir sur le site Web d’Environnement Canada ou auprès d’une autre source fiable d’information météorologique.

 

Il est à noter que l’humidex est préféré à la température car il tient compte des effets de l’humidité. Par conséquent, le tableau 2 ne doit être utilisé que lorsque l’humidex n’est pas disponible ou qu’il est inférieur à 35.

 

 

 

 

Tableau 1

Humidex Période de repos minimale par heure
Humidex de 35 à 37 Prévoir 10 minutes de repos
Humidex 38 à 40* Prévoir 20 minutes de repos
Humidex 41 à 43* Prévoir 30 minutes de repos
Humidex 44 et plus* Fournir une relève et une surveillance continue des travailleurs, ou les rediriger vers d’autres tâches, ou cesser leurs activités de travail

 

 

Tableau 2

Température Période de repos minimale par heure
30 à 31 (avec humidité <60%) Prévoir 10 minutes de repos
32 à 33 (avec humidité <50%)* Prévoir 20 minutes de repos
34 à 35 (avec humidité <50%)* Prévoir 30 minutes de repos
36 et plus* Fournir une relève et une surveillance continue des travailleurs, ou les rediriger vers d’autres tâches, ou cesser leurs activités de travail

* Rappelez aux travailleurs de boire au moins 1 tasse d’eau toutes les 20 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

Health care support workers petition for liveable wage

Article from the Eastern Graphic, written by Charlotte MacAulay May 15, 2024.

When contract negotiations broke down between CUPE health care support workers and Health PEI on April 10, union reps and workers voiced their frustration outside the PEI legislature and have since started a petition.

“The CUPE Health Negotiation Team created the petition to bring awareness to the PEI government through signatures of support for CUPE Support Service Workers,” said Local 1779 president Chris Lewis.

“Workers are struggling to maintain the basic necessities of life. Many hold second jobs to make ends meet, or work short in areas, causing workload stresses to workers and their families. We are really just trying to send government the message that the public stands behind what we are fighting for.” It is not a new message to government, Mr Lewis said, the four CUPE Health Locals 805, 1051, 1778 and 1779, representing 1,300 workers, met with Premier Dennis King and Health Minister Mark McLane in June 2023.

At the time the politicians told union reps their concerns over low wages would be addressed at the bargaining table. That didn’t happen, Mr Lewis said. “The offer wasn’t enough to address inflation for our workers,” he added.

The locals represent workers in laundry, dietary, maintenance, maintenance trades and housekeeping roles. Also under the umbrella are ward clerks and sterile technicians. They work in public long-term care homes, hospitals, addiction treatment centres and public health offices. “Everyone is important within a facility,” he said. “The majority of our workers are the lowest paid in the system.”

There is no official count of signatures as yet. Mr Lewis said the four locals have been circulating the petition across the province. “Anyone approached has been quite supportive,” he said. Mr Lewis has worked maintenance at Kings County Memorial Hospital for 24 years and has seen the issues of the wage gap and burnout a few years prior to the pandemic.

He said the fact that wage hikes are doled out in percentages puts things on an uneven keel.“After awhile the higher earners will get ahead a little more, and the ones making the least amount don’t make many gains,” he said. When people can’t make ends meet they have to move on to survive.“There are a lot of vacancies and people leaving the system, especially in our groups because a lot of people are finding it tough,” he said. This makes things hard for those still in the workforce.

“People are working overtime just to keep things going, and people get tired. It hurts a lot of things like your family life and your own health too if you get a little burnt out,” Mr Lewis said. It has been over a month since that gathering at the legislature where the premier said they wanted to get back to the table, but nothing has changed.

Currently they are in conciliation with Health PEI which means both sides communicate through an independent moderator. The premier’s office, the Department of Health and Wellness and Health PEI didn’t respond to questions by press time. The collective agreement the two sides are bargaining was due to be updated in March of 2023.

CUPE PEI’s Analysis of the Government of PEI’s 2024-2025 Operating Budget

In Dec 2023, CUPE PEI made a pre-budget submission to the Government of PEI with our input on what we wanted to see in the 2024-2025 Operating Budget.

Our 5 overall recommendations were:
– Increase the real wages of workers who provide public services
– Implement new childcare spaces that are publicly-owned and operated
– Address the housing shortage and make housing a human right
– Expand pilot project of the Targeted Basic Income Guarantee (T-BIG)
– Make new investments in public services

Check out the link to the PDF below to see what we asked for in our pre-budget submission and our thoughts on what we see reflected in the actual budget document.

Analysis PEI Budget 2024 03 07

PEI Government’s Budget Fails to Adequately Address Public Sector Concerns

Charlottetown, PEI – Ashley Clark, President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) PEI Division, today expressed disappointment with the PEI Government’s 2024-25 operating budget announcement, stating that it falls short of addressing critical needs within the public sector.

“While the PEI Government’s budget highlights investments in healthcare, housing, and affordability, it simply does not go far enough to address the pressing concerns faced by our frontline workers and residents,” stated Ashley Clark. “Premier Dennis King’s administration continues to overlook the essential needs of our healthcare system and fails to adequately support our valued public sector employees.”

Clark pointed out that despite allocations for healthcare improvements, the budget fails to address the underlying issues contributing to staff shortages, wage disparities, and resource deficiencies within the healthcare sector. “Allocating funds for additional patient medical homes and doctor recruitment is commendable, but without addressing fundamental issues such as bringing long-term care (LTC) workers to the public sector, these measures remain insufficient,” she emphasized. CUPE PEI notes that private sector wages would not need to reach parity with healthcare if PEI embraced LTC as a public service. “Healthcare wages are too low, and that is much worse in private LTC,” said Clark.

Furthermore, Clark criticized the budget for its lack of substantial measures to improve relations with frontline workers. “Premier Dennis King needs to recognize the importance of building better relationships with our frontline workers, who have been tirelessly serving our communities, and that is not reflected at all in our bargaining talks with the province,” Clark asserted. “Improving public services requires serious financial investments and it requires genuine collaboration and respect for public sector employees.”

CUPE PEI urged the PEI Government to prioritize meaningful dialogue with public sector unions and workers to address their concerns effectively. “We call on Premier Dennis King and his government to engage in constructive dialogue with CUPE Locals to develop comprehensive solutions that prioritize the well-being of our workers and the residents they serve,” Clark concluded.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) PEI represents over 3400 members across various sectors, including healthcare, education, municipalities, post-secondary education, long-term care, and more.

A message from CUPE PEI President, Ashley Clark

 

Hello CUPE PEI!

It’s been busy on our Island! Since being elected your Division President in May, I have been connecting with individuals and organizations, learning the (many) ropes, and working hard to represent Island worker interests with government, in the media, and at the CUPE National Executive Board. I want to say a HUGE thank you to all the CUPE locals, councils, and the CUPE PEI Board – as well as the CUPE Regional Director and entire Maritime Region Staff team – all of whom bring their knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to every issue we work on together!

One thing that has become crystal clear is that we are facing a dearth of leadership inthis province. From a municipal councilor denying the realities of residential schools and a provincial MLA making sexist comments about women paramedics to the toxic administration and culture at UPEI and the Premier’s divisive recruitment and retention strategy, we have seen people in positions of power directly harm and disrespect the people living and working in this province. Add to this reality the fact that inflation on PEI has skyrocketed; the cost of food, rent, and other essentials is out-of-control; and wages aren’t keeping up with inflation, the struggles and anxiety many people are facing today just to get by are real and understandable. In facing these difficulties, what inspires and motivates me is the incredible bravery and
solidarity I have seen from workers here on PEI and across the country. People are getting fed up with the status quo that advantages corporations over communities, and they are turning those frustrations into action. At our 60 th anniversary CUPE National Convention, we heard about strikes and job action across the country, where workers are standing up to their employers and they are winning – achieving better for their bargaining units, which means better for everyone! There are structural challenges that we have to face in our fight for fairness — indifferent, incompetent, or uncaring governments at every level; legislation that restricts our chartered rights and freedoms (or laws that don’t protect us from being exploited and unfairly treated); not to mention chronic underfunding of important social services.

Over the last few months, I have been meeting with Local Presidents, attending Local meetings and AGMs, and working with Regional and National staff to map out our plans to address those challenges head-on. I am so excited by the passion I am hearing from members across the province and the determination from Local leadership to fight for better for everyone. Island workers are tired of begging for scraps and are done waiting nicely for the government and employers to dictate when and how they want to deal with the Union. I am very proud to
represent CUPE workers on PEI and am excited to tackle the year ahead together!