CUPE expresses concern over throne speech

[Dec 10, 2007 05:12 PM]

For Immediate Release:
December 10, 2007

 

REGINA--The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the largest union in the province, is expressing serious concerns today over the priorities laid out in the speech from the throne.

 

 

 

 

Tom Graham, president of CUPE Saskatchewan, noted that the new government’s priorities have failed to account for the priorities of this province’s working people.

 

 

 

“Issues that affect working people, and the unions and organizations which represent those people, were not addressed in the speech from the throne,” said Graham. “Issues like essential services legislation and employer interference in workplace organizing were left out, much like they were hidden during the election campaign.”

 

 

 

On October 1, 2007—shortly before the election—then-health critic Don McMorris told a CBC reporter that his party would not legislate essential services, believing that the issue “needs to be negotiated.”

 

 

 

CUPE has a record of unequivocally providing an adequate level of essential services in all strike situations. Graham said that he agreed with McMorris and Wall when they said that those essential services should be negotiated, not legislated.

 

 

 

In addition, Graham expressed serious concerns over the Public-Private Partnership method of privatization.

 

 

 

“The speech from the throne acknowledged that Saskatchewan’s people want a publicy-funded and publicly-administered health care system,” said Graham. “But the most important thing about our health care system is that it’s publicly delivered. Our health care workers are highly-trained providers held to the highest standard as public servants in acute care, long-term care, home care, public and mental health care.”

 

 

 

Although the government was adamant that retention of young people, and attracting new and former residents to Saskatchewan, is a priority for its first term, Graham noted that the contracting out of good jobs, including those in health care, and deregulation of labour laws which make employment in our province more attractive will hinder the province’s ability to attract working people.

 

 

 

While labour-based issues were not given voice in the throne speech, Enterprise Saskatchewan was.  

 

 

 

While the speech from the throne claimed that Enterprise Saskatchewan is being formed to ‘return direction to the hands of the people,’ Graham noted that democracy—not a hand-picked bureaucracy—is representative of the people.

 

 

 

“This government campaigned on the concept of change,” said Graham. “But, essential services legislation, employer interference in workplace organizing, the Public-Private Partnership method of privatizing public services and the other labour-based changes the premier is proposing are not new. They’re the same old Conservative Rhetoric.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CUPE represents 27,000 public sector workers in Saskatchewan who work at health care facilities, municipalities, school boards, universities, libraries and community-based organizations.

 

 

 

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For more information contact:

 

Tom Graham: (306) 229-8171                                                                                       COPE 342