CUPE and municipal Politics

Cupe has jumped on the band wagon of politics to a greater degree lately encouraging members to get involved to the extent of running for office in their municipalities or getting nominated and elected to various boards, etc. I think this is probably a good thing as long as the people they are supporting are decent and are not necessarily influenced by some of the Cupe ways. What I mean by this is, supporting labour and attempting to make sure there is fair treatment and adequate pay adjustments and keeping essential services public is a good thing; but raising taxes to the extent the common folk and the elderly are starving is another. I guess what I am saying is if members money is going to be used for this purpose in any degree or amount ; then, the members should be okay with it and an established amount be put in place by the members to maintain contribution equality and there be some criteria established to choose someone of interest that is well rounded in the sense of decision making and experience. This being the case, it would not cost the members very much annually because these kind of people generally stay out of politics. Watchdog annie

CUPE and professional groups

Cupe is also involved in various professional groups that have associations that monitor the members behaviour in relation to their profession under a code of conduct of the association. The association out powers the union and many times members of cupe who are in these various professional associations are disciplined by the association if their panel of judges think they have done something that has went against their professional code of conduct within that association. Associations can remove one’s license to work or practice for a month, a year, or for a lifetime and there is no recourse. Cupe may not believe in this format; although it is similar to their kangaroo court, but they have no problem unionizing these groups of people and taking their monthly contributions. I think everyone should have the right to organize, but when it comes to associations, I think the association should become the union for that group and maybe the discipline issue and other issues would be more appropriately handled. Watchdog annie.

How CUPE get "thier" puppets elected in Locals

If a rep. from cupe ever tells you he or she is not permitted to get involved in the politics of whoever is going to be on the executive of a local or at the national level , do not believe them. It is like asking a politician if he or she ever get involved in any areas that may be a conflict of interest and they say no. Yes, in an ideal world, if the reps. followed policy they would not interfere but this is no where near an ideal world. If their bosses say interfere or suggest they interfere, they will interfere to the fullest in whatever way they think they can without being too noticeable. What they are supposed to stand for and what they do is again like a politician before and after they are successful in an election. These reps. know the outcome of an election is going to make their life easy or accountable and they always choose easy. If they are unsuccessful ; and many times they are , they always have a couple of backup plans that will hoist the ones they want off the executive out. It takes a very skilled player to stay in the game and remain challenging the system and there are still a few out there fighting for the people; but they are marked and eventually the majority will take them done with no sympathy to their dedicated work and honesty. Cupe is ruthless and most of the players are full of venom, ready to strike at a moments notice if it is going to have a perceived impact on their cushy career. Watchdog annie.

CUPE and thier "OWN" Union

What exactly is on the national board’s agenda that is of so much importance that they can not address the ongoing needs of the membership? One major issue; and there are numerous more, is having the regional directors out of the union the reps. are in. I have mentioned this before as to how ridiculous this is and I have been unable to find out how this was permitted to come about in the first place. One can only presume, the reps. got together and created this monster for their own benefit. Is a union sister or brother going to go against another union sister or brother ; especially if they are representing a union organization. The whole concept becomes a vicious circle; and who suffers is always the poor average member. If a rep. does not treat you properly or fairly or chooses to do nothing for you, you can complain to the national president if you choose and he or she will boot the problem down the line and the regional director will have to meet with the rep. and buy her/ him a coffee while he/she explains to her or him on how to properly do her/his job and to try and not let it happen again. It becomes just one big happy family covering up for one another and at the end of the day everything has been taken care of the cupe way. This collaborative union concept that exists with the reps. and their bosses has not and will not ever work to the benefit or well being of the membership. I think the regional directors should be non union management personelle. Someone has to be accountable in this organization at some point in time. It is time the national boards get down and do the parts of their job that require their immediate attention and will affect the members for years to come and forget about their personal agendas and images. Watchdog annie.

CUPE Members against CUPE Members

What do you think about supervisors and regular employees being in the same union and being disciplined by their fellow union members ? Cupe has no problem with this; because of course, there is more money coming in through increased dues and probably less complaints or grievances due to who the bosses are and how they fit in. To expand on this further, the supervisors are usually more aggressive and they usually run for executive positions on locals because they are not going to be directed by low lifes like regular employees so once again the fairness in the system is jeopardized. The big kicker is negotiations because the supervisors; if they are executive members, sit on the negotiating team and they can settle for a whole lot less because their salaries are in the vicinity of 10,000.00 per year more than the next level so the little guy gets the shaft again. I think there should not be any supervisors who perform job evaluations or are involved in any aspect of discipline permitted to be in the same union as the people they are supervising. Cupe thrives on silent intimidation. This should spark a little fire. Watchdog annie.

CUPE's power of sugestion

The one thing that urks me beyond belief is the fact Cupe can get away with persuading the members that the cost of living in Canada has only went up 2 % per year in the last five years. Who are they trying to kid / well I guess they are kidding us because we are falling for it and signing collective agreements with 2 and ½ % per year over four and five year periods. Can you imagine their professional research team : whoever they are, has come up with these figures. Did you buy gas or groceries lately or fill your oil tank ? There is a distinct difference in 2% for a person making 100,000.00 per year and someone making 20,000.00 gross per year. According to their team, it does not make any difference. Well, where I come from we pay the same for a loaf of bread and a litre of gas no matter if we make 8.00 per hour or 100.00 per hour ; and trust me, it is a whole lot easier paying for the regular household and family bills making 100.00 per hour. Basically, a lot Cupe members are unionized taking home salaries equal to welfare wages and sometimes below welfare wages. Wake up Cupe and stop scamming us. Watchdog annie.

CUPE"S way of controlling people

Administration : now that is a nasty word and can even be a nastier experience if one is on the receiving end as being either the general membership or the executive of a local that this takes place with. When national decides to take a local under administration they can do it without any warning and without any valid reason because this is how the national constitution bylaws are formulated. This has been challenged on many occasions with little or no success even though it was determined there were no money discrepancies or ill will towards the members by the local executive. Please do not make the mistake and mention that the members should look to joining another union because of the treatment they have received or little or no representation by cupe because your local will be put under administration before you wake up in the morning. Cupe has ruined many lives of good honest hard working members who have devoted the best part of their lives to serving the members just because they did not agree with something that was said about national’s inabilities or changes they felt would benefit the members. Once a local is put under administration the rumours commence; and even though the truth comes out months later, the damage has already been done and national to this day has never taken any responsibility for their actions when they were wrong. Every biannual, there are proposals from locals who have experienced this to make the appropriate changes and all we get is broken promises and more lies .They almost get a big high on destroying good people. I still believe some day this is going to change and I hope I am around to see it.
Watchdog annie.

Harassment in the workplace

The topic for the day is harassment in the workplace ; but not by the management people. The harassment in the workplace is by our own members and is an every day occurrence at many worksites; and national is not capable or willing to address this. If you contact a rep. or r.d. : they will meet with you several times and try to get you to calm down and not be so disturbed over the matter to the extent you will give up and not file an harassment charge at work against the fellow member who continues to harass you. There have been cases throughout the country where reps. have represented the harassers and not the members who have been harassed. There even have been cases where the rep. has tried to dig up dirt on the members who filed the complaint in order to have the harassment charge dropped. The bottom line is; when this occurs, both parties require immediate representation from the union and the members being harassed should have representation by people of their choice. Do not let them pull a fast one on you if this takes place because you will end up being the bad person in the end ; even though you have been the one who has been tormented by the other member or members all along. Watchdog annie.

CUPE structure

Any large union can be portrayed like Germany in the second world war; where one person can ruin a whole country or a whole organization, if they are permitted to be the supreme leader with no one advising them other than their supporters. This is how the cupe structure is : the national president interprets the constitution and can not be challenged on this other than in a court of law because if someone dares to question anything they will have to at the biannual every two years and it will most certainly be defeated by the followers. Do not kid yourself because at a national convention it is always orchestrated that the majority of the attending members are followers of the grand puba. There has never been one supreme leader in the history of the world that has not destroyed the civilization that the leader belonged to so why would cupe be any different; and furthermore, why would intelligent learned individuals heading the creation of the national constitution permit this type of structure to exist let alone continue to operate unless there was something for them at the end of the tunnel. I think it is time to knock down the great pyramid and build a new foundation that protects and supports the real values of unionism. Watchdog annie.

Senority and CUPE Reps

I know I have touched on this subject before ; but, what do you think about reps. only doing a set number of years or putting them on contract or at least having some of the services contracted out. The present system does not work because once they are in, they accumulate
I know I have touched on this subject before ; but, what do you think about reps. only doing a set number of years or putting them on contract or at least having some of the services contracted out. The present system does not work because once they are in, they accumulate senority and they eventually become permanent and there is no way of disposing of them. The other problem is there is no real set framework for reps.around what their job entails. They do everything from filing grievances to adjudications to giving out papers and being door people at conferences. I think they should be confined to only dealing with grievances and assisting with negotiations. The adjudications should be performed by the lawyers; and if there are too many to be dealt with at a certain time, then have an outside lawyer to handle them. The other thing that should take place is : if you are hired as a secretary, you perform secretarial duties; not automatically become a rep. your last five years of work to beef up your pension settlement .the research and the media people should be all contracted out or given to members within that have the expertise and are willing to perform these duties for a specified period of time. I will close my thought today by stating in no circumstances should hired reps. be attending conferences and meetings where their main objective is to obtain a free coffee and a donut, promote propaganda, spy on the little people, and neglect the members they should be representing. It is high time members stepped up to the plate and demanded proper representation from the very people they pay. Watchdog annie.

More on CUPE volunteers

Why would anyone in their right mind today get involved as a volunteer with cupe? The people who have got involved and have given an honest effort and cared about the rights of workers and the treatment of everyone in the workplace have got burned every time by some rep., regional director, or a national executive board member some time throughout their volunteer career ; if you can classify volunteering as a career. You are not told this when you take the initial training anymore. At one time, cupe had volunteers who knew what they were talking about and they had the knowledge base and the necessary experience and they would lay out the ground rules and the risks involved that come with being part of this organization. Today the majority of the people they can find who are interested in volunteering are those who want power or want to become reps. This is the trend and it is not going to change because this is the way for permanent control to continue and for the wool to be kept over the members’ eyes. Cupe is not about the members, it is about cupe. Do not get fooled by the statement ; cupe is the members. Saying this, cupe would not exist without the members and their monthly contributions. Watchdog annie

CUPE Reps on Strike With the CUPE Local

Here is a thought for the day. Every time there is a strike, the striking group always makes a comment about the national reps. should be on strike when they are on strike, so they can understand what they are going through and what they are trying to survive on. Even though this is a fantastic thought, this is never going to happen ; or if you could find an executive board that would stand strong and negotiate this, there would never be another strike in cupe across the country. Reps. do not like strikes because they have to work and be accountable ; and further more, they make more money when their group is on strike because of the supposed increased workload and hours. Reps. are not going to understand or truly care about strikers because at the end of the day they have made it to the big leagues and we are just a means to an end for them. Keep hoping people but please do not lose touch with reality. Watchdog annie.

CUPE and the right to fair representation

Today there are still provinces that do not have duty of fair representation for members of unions in relation to acts that affect their labour boards. This is just another example of unions getting away with whatever they want and not fighting for the rights of their members. Cupe will fight when it comes to another union talking to their members or when they think they should be part of some board in a particular province ; but when it comes to something that actually benefits and protects the rights and interests of the members they do not want any part of it. Duty to fair representation gives the members the right to file a complaint with their respected labour board when a national union decides to write it’s own rules and dictate how things are going to be and who is going to be in charge.This can be as simple as the national union president or one of the national executive board members or a chrony does not like the local president or local executive ;or the executive may have called the national union on some facet of misappropriation and the national union just steps in and eliminates these people dragging their names through the mud at the same time with no remorse or conscience. Without this , unions like cupe can abuse their power and basically do whatever they want whenever they want and the dues paying members are at their mercy. Trust me, cupe national has did this many times and will continue to do it because there is no legislation and they have all the members money to discredit people and fight in the courts. It is like paying for something you think you have but you do not have--------premiums for an insurance that only exists in theory not principle. Watchdog annie

CUPE NAtional Expenses

Why is it that no one questions the expenditures of the national executive board in relation to the purchase of water bottles, mouse pads, flags, pins, and paper products to advertise cupe. The dues that is collected should not be used to purchase articles that are expensive and appear to have the only sole purpose for to outdo the competition. Sure, there should be a certain amount allotted for recruitment and necessary paperwork that explains what your union organization is all about; but when you are talking about tens of thousands of dollars going towards items that are not necessary for the well being of the membership, then you are over extending your position in relation to making decisions on additional expenditures. If this organization is going to straighten it’s act up, there needs to be clear and concise guidelines and policing of expenditures at the national level, with no exceptions to the rules. This is the way it is at the local level throughout the country ; so the old saying should remain true,what is good for the goose should be good for the gander. Watchdog annie.

Who does CUPE recruit ?

What do you think about the training programs they put on. It seems cupe is more interested in trainers not telling the real truth about being a volunteer and let these poor people feel they are important until they run into a stumbling block when they go to represent someone whose grievance may be a little outside the norm. they recruit trainers who are not really equipped to do training because the majority do not have this type of background or do this for a living. Cupe is able to somewhat brainwash them into how to put a program on and how to present the national way to the members interested in getting involved in union work. At the end of the day, we end up with a group of people who are not properly trained to represent the membership. What is the answer? Cupe is supposed to be in the union business, not the training business. Hire, under contract, members who do this for a living to do the training and the followup. Separate the training of volunteer representatives from the propaganda and maybe they can acquire a greater percentage of members who will be able to do the job properly and the way it should be done; with a whole lot less guess work and problems. Watchdog annie.