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.