Posts published in October 2025

Mediation began between CUPE 7148, the Syndicat des pompiers et pompières du Québec, and the Ville de Saint-Colomban. However, rather than bargain in good faith, the city opted for hostility, imposing a comprehensive offer before discussion with the mediator could even begin.

Not only did this approach fail to respect the spirit of mediation, it also ignored several points that had been bargained and agreed upon in the last year. Before going into mediation, the employer went so far as to modify and strike out text that the parties had agreed upon. The city also added new demands months after the talks had begun.

“I’ve never seen bargaining like this,” said Michelle Brideau, CUPE representative and spokesperson at the bargaining table. “It ridicules the union and it mocks the workers. Honestly, it’s bad faith bargaining!”

In addition to going back on their word, the employer presented a financial offer that the union deemed insufficient and insulting. Saint-Colomban firefighters are currently the lowest paid in the area, earning 27% less than the regional average.

“The Ville de Saint-Colomban is not respectful,” said Martin Macchabée, president of CUPE 7148. “Our wages are the lowest in the region, and when we finally sit down together in mediation, hoping to settle the dispute, the employer reverses the points we’ve managed to settle together in recent months.”

The contract expired on December 31, 2022. The union also voted in favour of pressure tactics on June 14, 2025.

“In our line of work, we speak as one,” concluded the president. “We have to be able to rely on each other, out of honour and for our survival. From our perspective, the employer’s actions are mind-boggling.”

CUPE 2269 and the District of Squamish, in southern British Columbia, have reached a tentative agreement with the assistance of a mediator, after a nearly two-week long lockout forced 250 municipal workers onto picket lines.

“This has been a difficult chapter between the District of Squamish and their workers,” said Celeste Bickford, president of CUPE 2269. “Reaching a tentative agreement is the necessary first step towards rebuilding our workplace culture and improving staff morale, to ensure we can better deliver the vital services residents, business and visitors count on.”

Details of the tentative agreement will not be released until it has been presented to members for ratification, and picket lines will remain in place until both parties have ratified the agreement.

Following their rally in Westville on Wednesday, workers at Admiral and Whitehills Long Term Care Centres, represented by CUPE 1259, voted 99% in favour of a strike mandate citing low wages, poor recruitment and retention leading to working short, mandatory overtime, and unsafe working conditions as their main issues. 

“The reality is that the rising cost of living and constant stress of working short is forcing people to leave long term care for other sectors and professions,” said CUPE 1259 President Dawn Vardy. “Most days, we’re assigned a unit to take care of, and we do it alone. That means we’re taking care of 15 residents, handling all their needs, alone. That’s not sustainable, and it’s certainly not beneficial to the residents who call our facilities their home.” 

Poor retention of workers is one of the main issues CUPE long term care workers are trying to address in this round of bargaining. While the government has instituted programs to encourage people to work in health care and long term care more specifically, low wages and chronic understaffing force these workers to leave, making these programs ineffective. 

“It doesn’t matter how many job fairs or signing bonuses people are offered if the job itself doesn’t pay enough for them to live. I have coworkers who are homeless, who live in their cars or sleep on friends’ couches, because they aren’t being paid enough to afford rent,” explained Vardy. “That’s why people keep leaving, or don’t come into long term care in the first place. And I don’t blame them. Loving what you do, and caring as much as we do, doesn’t put food on the table.” 

Long term care workers in Nova Scotia are the lowest paid in Atlantic Canada, with several classifications, such as dietary aides and housekeepers, making under $20 an hour. Other health care sectors within the province, such as acute care, offer higher wages, which often results in long term care workers changing jobs so they can make ends meet. 

“In my role as coordinator, I talk to long term care workers across the province and while individual circumstances differ, the central issue is the same: they can’t afford to live,” said CUPE Long Term Care Coordinator Tammy Martin. “We have support staff, some of our most vital classifications, working 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet. We have CCAs taking on the responsibility of an entire floor of residents alone. Tell me, is that how you want your parents, your grandparents, to be taken care of? No? Well, neither do these workers, but the government has made this the only way.” 

After reviewing Scott Moe’s throne speech, CUPE Saskatchewan is alarmed that the government has no plans to strengthen public services, fix schools, end the health care crisis, or give workers a raise.

“Scott Moe’s Throne Speech was a total flop,” said Kent Peterson, president of CUPE Saskatchewan. “In fact, his speech did not include the word ‘worker’ even once. Any plan that doesn’t mention workers and the vital public services they deliver is an abject failure.”

Scott Moe’s throne speech failed to address the most critical issues impacting Saskatchewan people:

• Health care: No plan to fix the worker retention crisis, no plan to end health care facility closures, no plan to give workers a raise.
• Education: nothing to address safety in schools or fill the gap left by the end of Jordan’s Principle funding, and not even a passing mention on fixing this province’s crumbling schools. 
• Child care: still no renewal of the $10-a-day program, which keeps child care in jeopardy.
• Universities: no promises to end ongoing layoffs in our post-secondary system, reduce tuition fees, or commit to sustainable sector funding.

CUPE, which union represents over 7,000 education support workers across Saskatchewan, is calling out the Sask. Party government for neglecting crumbling infrastructure in its Building Schools Faster Act.

Announced in the provincial government’s throne speech, the proposed legislation completely ignores the many schools in Saskatchewan that are in desperate need of repairs, including Laird School, located in the premier’s own riding.

“Dozens of schools across the province are in a dangerous state of disrepair, and this government’s funding cuts mean that school divisions can’t keep up with maintenance,” said Kent Peterson, president of CUPE Saskatchewan. “Now, communities like Laird are at risk of losing their schools because Scott Moe refuses to properly invest in the schools we already have.”

CUPE is also raising concerns about the Sask. Party’s silence on education assistants and support staff at a time when many school divisions have had to cut positions due to budget constraints, leaving students with fewer supports in the classroom.

“Education in Saskatchewan is in crisis,” said Karla Sastaunik, chair of the CUPE Saskatchewan Education Workers’ Steering Committee. “Violence is not slowing down, education support staff wages remain abysmally low, recruitment and retention are a serious problem, and Indigenous youth are being left behind with cuts to Jordan’s Principle. The government’s plan does nothing to address these urgent issues.”

CUPE is calling on the Sask. Party government to stop its political posturing and start investing in the schools and staff that students rely on every day.