Should our union be focused on issues outside of our collective agreement? Hello everyone, I would like to focus on some resolutions which - in my opinion - have no relevance to our membership and resolutions which are against our self-interest and that of the airline industry. Foreign Politics: As an example of a resolution which should not be part of CUPE’s mandate is Resolution #183, regarding the “Cuban 5”. The intent is to write to the president of the United States every year and demand the release of four Cubans (one has been released), who have been in prison since 1998. They have been accused of committing espionage, conspiracy and murder. In Cuba, they are considered as heroes, and the Cuban government claims they are intelligence agents. Our membership and I assume members of other locals in and outside of the airline division, have enough problems to deal with, why then should our union dues, resources and time of our union leaders be spent on others outside of Canada? Anyone can do this on their own time with their own money. I do not know if these four Cubans are innocent or guilty. I do not think the 2000 delegates will have time to research all the court cases and evidence to know the history of the Cuban 5. One can see them as Freedom Fighters others can see them as terrorists. I believe CUPE should be focused only on our collective agreement. Resolution No. 183 Submitted by Local 1751 (Que.) CUPE NATIONAL WILL: 1. Continue to show solidarity with the four Cubans detained in the US (more commonly known as the Cuban Five, although one of them, René González, was released on May 2); 2. Send a letter to the president of the United States demanding the immediate release of Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, Gerardo Hernández, and Ramón Labañino every year on June 1 (the anniversary of their detention) until they are freed. BECAUSE: · ·CUPE Quebec stands in solidarity with the Cuban people and detaining these four Cubans is just adding insult to injury given the Cuban embargo imposed by the US since 1962, despite opposition from the majority of the UNs members; · ·These four Cubans have been imprisoned under harsh conditions in the United States since 1998 for crimes they did not commit; and · ·They were not granted a fair and equitable trial, have been given disproportionate sentences, and the American government has never allowed their family to visit. Denying visitation rights constitutes a form of psychological torture. Against our self-interest: Resolutions #112 to #118: banning fracking and opposing off-shore drilling. Everyone wants a clean environment, but, should the delegates be discussing this at a union convention? I am not a geologist, physicist, biologist or chemist. Nor are the 2000 delegates at this union convention. So, how does anyone expect a well thought-out and in-depth discussion on fracking and off-shore drilling? It will not happen since the argument is clear: oil is bad, renewable energy is good. Debate is futile. As I repeated previously, I do not feel discussing fracking or off-shore drilling should be part of CUPE’s mandate, especially when you consider the industry we work in. The airline industry needs jet fuel and jet fuel comes from oil and the oil sands. Yes there will be alternatives for cleaner energy, but this will be in the future, what we need now is a lower price for oil. Jet fuel is our biggest expense, and if we spend less on fuel, then we can all benefit if our company becomes more profitable: we make more money, we can have better working conditions, a stable, reliable pension plan and our company can grow. In 1998, the starting salary of a flight attendant at Air Canada was around $27 an hour. The price of a barrel of oil was around $30. In 2013, the starting salary of a flight attendant is around $23 per hour. Oil is at around $100 a barrel, also, jet fuel is more expensive then oil. By relying on our own oil, we can also lower our dependence on the Gulf States. If fracking and off-shore drilling lowers the price of oil, then it also means less money will go to Islamic Jihadist terrorist groups. Saudi Arabia, according to UN Watch, is the largest donor to Islamic Jihadist terrorist groups. As we all know, the planes which were hijacked on 9/11 were done by Al-Qaeda members. To oppose fracking and off-shore drilling because one wants to save the environment, can lead to negative consequences and run counter to our industries interest. Yes, it is good and noble to protect the environment, but oil is not going to disappear tomorrow. And members of CUPE can always join an environmental group or NGO if they so choose on their own time. We need lower prices for oil, it will make our industry stronger and weaken those who oppose and want to attack us. (It is odd to me that the Air Transat Component would submit this resolution since it is not to their advantage to see their company pay for higher fuel prices.) As well, families and individuals who have a low income can benefit as well, lower oil costs can lower the price of goods manufactured and delivered. All of society would benefit. (And just to clarify, this does not mean we should waste more. One can still be environmentally concerned and responsible even though oil prices are lower.) Resolution No. 112 Submitted by the Air Transat Component, the Metro Vancouver District Labour Council (B.C.), Locals 4308 (Ont.), 1550 (Man.) and 3550 (Alta.) CUPE NATIONAL WILL: 1. Support and partner with organizations in Canada opposed to fracking (i.e. hydraulic fracturing - a dirty and toxic extraction technique for exploiting/capturing natural gas) and will write a letter to the Prime Minister, Provincial Premiers and heads of Territorial Governments calling for a national ban of fracking to follow the lead provided by the Province of Quebec that has legislated a moratorium on the practice. BECAUSE: · Fracking is an operation that brutalizes the earth through high powered underground injections of toxic water and sand. The operation is capable of releasing greenhouse gases into the environment that rivals the damage done by coal; and · ·Some of the chemicals involved are carcinogenic and have the potential to poison fresh water sources that communities depend on; and · ·Fracking produced tap water in Rosebud, Alberta that could be lit on fire because of the polluting methane content that fracking and created; and · ·Countries like France have banned the practice and jurisdictions throughout Europe, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere are creating moratoria on fracking because of the potential disasters to public and community resources that may result. Ill-considered consequences which far outweigh the benefits of this wreck less practice; and · ·Public health and safety must trump any corporations right to damage the environment and humankinds resources by subordinating public interest to a corporations pursuit of profits for its share holder. Resolution No. 117 Submitted by CUPE British Columbia CUPE NATIONAL WILL: Vigorously oppose any and all attempts by the oil and gas industry to suspend moratorium on off-shore drilling/exploration in BC coastal waters; and Vigorously oppose any attempt to allow oil supertankers from sailing in BC coastal waters. BECAUSE: · ·The Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster ought to serve as a frightening wake-up call for all Canadians. · ·The British Petroleum Companys fatal oil rig explosion and ensuing environmental tragedy clearly indicates the uncertainty of safe off-shore oil drilling/exploration and the unavailability of safe technology. Political Parties: Our union dues fund the NDP. It seems, at least to one local, that even the NDP is too right-wing and neoliberal. In Resolution #239, Local 4207 wants to break all ties with political parties and work towards creating a new “working class party with a socialist orientation.” I wonder what Thomas Mulcair, Leader of the NDP, would say regarding this, especially since he is a guest speaker at the convention. 1. Resolution No. 239 Submitted by Local 4207 (Ont.) CUPE NATIONAL WILL: Sever its formal and informal ties with all existing political parties, and; Actively work towards the creation of a new working class party with a socialist orientation, and; Until such party has been established support individual candidates with a socialist platform on a riding by riding basis. BECAUSE: · ·All existing political parties have moved rightward, and all have accepted or embraced neoliberal policies containing austerity for the working class, and; · ·None of the existing parties is currently proposing policies that will strengthen the labour movement, and the working class as a whole. Here is a letter written to a national newspaper which describes the 2007 CUPE National Convention. CUPE should focus on its members, not foreign policy Marc Roumy: CUPE should focus on its members, not foreign policy Posted: August 26, 2009, 9:10 AM by National Post Editor The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is Canadas largest union, representing over 560,000 workers in both the public and private sectors across Canada. CUPEs members work in health care, education, municipalities, libraries, universities, social services, public utilities, transportation, emergency services and airlines. I automatically became a member when I was hired as an Air Canada flight attendant; there was no other choice. CUPE has three levels of bottom-up leadership with voting privileges at all three levels: local, component and national. At the airline, local representatives deal with the companys lower management while the next component level faces upper management. Across Canada, locals and components are under the umbrella of CUPE National, headquartered in Ottawa, which lobbies and fights for our rights before all levels of government. CUPE National sets its agenda every two years at a national convention, which approximately 2,000 delegates attend to debate and vote on resolutions provided by all locals. Each delegate is nominated by acquiring a minimum number of signatures from their local membership. If more members are nominated than proportionally allocated, an election is held to decide who becomes a delegate. Two years ago, when I first attended the National Convention as a nominated delegate, I was surprised at the many distractions we faced. For five days there was very little, if any, discussion about the working or safety conditions facing our members. Much of the focus was placed on a mandate within the unions constitution on the promotion of peace and freedom. The many resolutions debated and voted on ranged from the Kyoto Protocol to the protesters killed in Burma and opposition to the war in Afghanistan. There was even one resolution criticizing any threats of war and/or a military action against Iran, and equally opposed [to] the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council. Anti-Israeli literature was freely promulgated, and anti-Israeli meetings were held. Out of the 515 resolutions brought forward over the five days, only 40 were discussed. The majority of my colleagues have no idea that this is what goes on at the National Convention. When they find out, they are either angry or disappointed. Very few have told me they support CUPEs current direction. Theyre unhappy that the delegates spend so much time contemplating resolutions that have no bearing on members health and safety and general collective agreements. At the last convention, only eight out of 2038 delegates voted against the foreign policy resolutions mentioned above. I was one of those opponents. I also publicly spoke against some of them on the convention floor. As a result, a couple of delegates labelled me as an extremist and others openly questioned my right to be there. The CUPE National convention suffers from overt political bias. It has strong ties with the NDP and openly donates funds to the party. At the next National convention in October, I hope to see a resolution pass which would end discrimination against differing political views by adding protections for political ideology to the unions constitution equality statement. This would allow CUPE to become a more open and democratic union, inclusive of all political views. Perhaps in the future, thanks to more open and fair debate, it will become clear to our membership that adopting a foreign policy agenda does not help our common cause. CUPEs focus must remain within the boundaries of the collective agreements of the people it represents. National Post Marc Roumy is a member of Air Canada, Local 4092 Correction: In a previous message, I stated the cost for a delegate to attend the 6 day conference and convention would be $1,500. I gave a low number, but after looking at the numbers, the cost for registration, hotel, per diem, flight release, transportation is around $2,800 or more, almost $3,000 per delegate.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 22:20:11 +0000
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