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PEI Pre-Budget Consulations

CUPE invites all of its members to participate in the PEI government pre-budget consultations. Workers’ input for the 2019-20 provincial budget is essential.

Give Your Input

There are a number of options for Islanders to provide input, as follows:

Consultation Meetings

Each session is scheduled from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Please pre-register by calling (902) 368-5501.

  • Tuesday, February 5, O’Leary (Storm date: Wednesday, February 6)
  • Thursday, February 7, Summerside (Storm date: Friday, February 8) Version française sera disponible
  • Tuesday, February 12, Charlottetown (Storm date: Thursday, February 14)
  • Friday, February 15, Montague (Storm date: Tuesday, February 19)

 

CUPE PEI STATEMENT – National Day of Rememberance and Action on Violence Against Women

CUPE PEI STATEMENT ON DECEMBER 6, 2018

December 6th is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

We pause to remember the 14 young women who were singled out and murdered because they were women on that day in 1989 at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique. Most of them were engineering students. One of the victims, Maryse Laganière, was a CUPE member who worked at the school.

We also remember the 10 Island women who since 1989 have been killed by partners or someone who knew them.  We mourn the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and the countless others throughout Canada and around the world whose lives were cut short by gender-based violence or who still experience it.

After decades of activism, much work still remains. We must recommit to ending gender-based violence and continue the struggle for gender equality.   “First mourn. Then work for change”. Those words are the call to action on the December 6th monument in Summerside, established by the PEI Federation of Labour.

The labour movement continues to advocate for better socio-economic supports and services for survivors of gender-based violence. A positive step was taken in 2018, with the amendment of PEI’s employment standards legislation to include a new leave for workers who need time to deal with the consequences of domestic, intimate partner or sexual violence. If this change is proclaimed and comes into force,  workers who have experienced this kind of violence will be able to take up to three days of paid leave and another seven days of unpaid leave. Some other provinces, including New Brunswick, offer five days of paid leave.

What can you and your local do to make a difference?

Learn more about the issues and support groups working for change:

 

 

  • See the video series “Make it Your Business!”  produced by  PEI Family Violence Prevention Services (http://www.fvps.ca/ – Resources), working with the PEI Rape and Sexual Assault Centre, the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women and other partners in the Mayor of Charlottetown’s Purple Ribbon Task Force on Family Violence Prevention with financial  sponsorship from CUPE National. The videos offer short, practical scenarios to help bystanders recognize signs of family violence in public places and workplaces and get tips on how to safely take action.
  • For more on the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, see the website of Native Women’s Association of Canada, https://www.nwac.ca/mmiwg/ ; For services available to survivors, Women’s Shelters Canada, http://endvaw.ca/

 

 

 

Participate in one of the December 6th Memorial Services:

 

Charlottetown, 12:00 noon, Thursday, December 6

Memorial Hall, Confederation Centre of the Arts (venue sponsor) Richmond Street.

The special service will include a Mi’kmaw opening ceremony and prayers by Julie Pellissier-Lush, address by Paxton Caseley of Our Turn, poetry by Lily Levesque, music by the Gaia singers and Dylan Menzie accompanying on piano. Family members, dignitaries, and community activists will light candles in remembrance of those whose lives were cut short because they were women. Everyone is welcome to attend. Contact Michelle at 902-368-4510 / info@peistatusofwomen.ca  Organized by the PEI  Advisory Council on the Status of Women.

 

Summerside, 12:00 noon, Thursday, December 6

Trinity United Church, 90 Spring Street, Summerside.

Service with guest speaker Hon. Tina Mundy  For more information, call 902-436-9856

Organized  by the East Prince Women’s Information Centre.

 

 

 

 

First Annual Maritime Paramedic Union Conference

Halifax, Nova Scotia – Paramedic and Dispatcher Unions from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI met for the first time in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to discuss issues paramedics and dispatchers are facing in their provinces. Ambulance services in each of these provinces are operated by Medavie.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to do the best we can for our paramedics and dispatchers and to provide the best possible care to our communities. This meeting was a great tool for our provinces in achieving that,” says Jason Woodbury, President of CUPE Local 3324, representing PEI paramedical workers.

This year’s Maritime Paramedic Union Conference was hosted in Halifax by the union representing Nova Scotia paramedics, the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 727. The intention is that this will be an annual conference, with next year’s being hosted by CUPE Local 3324 in PEI.

Each province was given the opportunity to present on issues paramedics and dispatchers are facing in their areas, followed by a round table on the issues discussed. Topics included offload delays, half-staffed and out of service ambulances, inherent overtime caused by these delays, missed meals, paramedic burnout, low morale and more.

“Increased workload, off-Island transfers and equipment resources continue to be a constant concern affecting employee morale and public safety,” says Woodbury.

 

PEI Unions: Enact Bill 102 Immediately

Charlottetown – This Tuesday, May 8, CUPE PEI held a press conference to demand that the provincial government proclaim Bill 102, An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act. The bill aims to provide added support to workers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder by providing presumptive coverage to workers when they apply for compensation for PTSD.

CUPE PEI President Leonard Crawford and Jason Woodbury, President of CUPE Local 3324 and Miscouche’s Fire Chief, made their demand clear: “Bill 102 must be made law immediately. Despite the unanimous support of the legislature, going through all three readings and receiving Royal Assent in December 2017, somehow, it’s not yet law,” said Leonard Crawford.

“After four months, it’s clear this sluggishness is deliberate. This standstill is unacceptable. We demand Premier MacLauchlan act now,” said Crawford.

Rumours that a snap election might be called this summer worry union members, who fear Bill 102 may never see the light of day.

“The Government has a plan to put in its own PTSD legislation, Bill 2, which is basically Bill 102 with a broadened scope. That sounds great, but until Bill 2 goes through all the legislative hoops like Bill 102 did, we should err on the side of caution and protect the gain we should already have,” said Woodbury.

“Doing otherwise than enacting Bill 102 sends the worst message to PEI workers. It means injured workers are less of a priority for this government than crass partisanship,” denounced Woodbury.

CUPE PEI notes that Bill 2 is not without flaws. The proposed changes make it so only psychiatrists and psychologists can deliver a PTSD diagnostic to make compensation possible. The ongoing psychologist and psychiatrist shortage on the Island means there will remain significant barriers to eligibility.

“Proclaim Bill 102, and then, we can talk about making it better through a Bill 2 after”, concluded Crawford.

CUPE PEI leaders were flanked by the president of the PEI Federation of Labour, the PEI Nurses Union president, Opposition MLA’s and representatives of the PEI Health Coalition.