CUPE National President to address convention Wednesday

[May 6, 2008 12:31 PM]

CUPE National President to address convention Wednesday

 

 

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – Paul Moist, the national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), commends CUPE Saskatchewan for “getting out front” to oppose the Saskatchewan Party’s sweeping legislative changes that would undermine public sector bargaining and make it more difficult to join a union.

 

 

 

Union members are lobbying MLAs and have created their own campaign website:dontgiveuphope.ca

 

 

Moist, who will speak to the CUPE Saskatchewan convention in Saskatoon tomorrow, says the Saskatchewan Party’s first 100 days in office have been a major disappointment for working people.

 

 

“The Saskatchewan Party campaigned on a message of hope, but its proposed legislation [Bills 5 and 6] undermine working people and their unions,” said Moist. “That’s not the type of change CUPE members had expected – or hoped for – from this government,” he says.

 

 

Moist says the new government should show some prairie pragmatism and withdraw the bills. “Given the proposed legislation is mired in controversy, the Premier should rescind the proposed legislation and hold public hearings.”

 

 

The president of Canada’s largest union (570,000 members) will deliver his keynote address to CUPE Saskatchewan delegates on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. The convention is taking place at the Delta Bessborough.

 

 

Moist will be in Saskatoon with two of the 252 employees of the Journal de Québec, who have been locked-out for nearly a year by Quebecor/Sun Media Corporation. The locked-out workers, members of CUPE, are on a Canadian tour to publicize the issues surrounding the conflict.

 

 

As part of his convention speech, Moist also will show a video highlighting the collective strength of CUPE members in fighting privatization and winning the battle for adequate funding to re-build crumbling infrastructure and to ensure that health and education remain in public hands.

 

 

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To arrange interviews with Paul Moist and/ or the locked-out workers from the Journal de Québec, contact Beth Smillie in Saskatoon at 306-382-8262.