Posts published in October 2025

Mediation between the District of Squamish in British Columbia and CUPE 2269, the union representing approximately 250 municipal workers, ended without resolution on Friday, after the District again was unwilling to make the necessary compromises to move negotiations forward. 

CUPE 2269 members represent approximately 250 workers who provide integral community services to residents, businesses, and visitors in Squamish including water and wastewater treatment, swimming lessons, children’s programs and camps, recreation services, facilities maintenance, parks and trails maintenance, bylaw and animal control, snow removal, emergency program administration, and administrative and operations support for the RCMP. 

“Our community deserves better,” said Celeste Bickford president of CUPE 2269. “The Mayor has been calling publicly for an urgent return to the table. Yet once negotiations resumed, the District wasn’t willing to genuinely engage in bargaining or work toward a fair resolution.” 

“Yesterday, our focus was on finding a path to resolution, and we presented a revised package that reflected that commitment. Unfortunately, the employer rejected it and refused to make any meaningful changes to their position” added Bickford while speaking on Saturday.

Bickford said that at the end of mediation they presented the District with a further revised offer, which included a revised wage offer, for them to consider and asked for a response by noon on Monday, October 27 given the urgency of resolving this dispute. In response, the District asked for an extension to 4:00 p.m. 

“While we’ve agreed to this extension, there’s no reason for the District to delay providing a response if they are truly committed to resolving this dispute.” added Bickford.  

Mediation between the parties was scheduled to resume at 1:00 p.m. today, though CUPE 2269 says they offered to resume negotiation anytime over the weekend or earlier. 

CUPE 104 is calling on the federal government to immediately correct a grave omission in its recent announcement to recognize public safety occupations under the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA). Despite being the first point of contact for Canadians in crisis and the vital link between the public and police, RCMP Public Safety Communicators have been excluded.

These professionals — the RCMP Telecommunications Operators and Intercept Monitors — save lives every day. Working in a live, high-pressure operational environment, they coordinate responses to shootings, abductions, mass-casualty events, and border-security incidents, guiding police officers through dangerous and unpredictable situations. They also support national security investigations that prevent violent crime and terrorism from taking hold in Canada.

“It’s incomprehensible that the government can say we’re not a public safety occupation when that’s exactly what we are,” said Kathleen Hippern, President of CUPE 104. “Our members handle life-and-death emergencies every day — yet they are denied the same recognition and retirement protections as their counterparts in other federal public safety roles.”

A recent announcement by Prime Minister Mark Carney included early-retirement provisions for certain high-risk and high-stress federal occupations. Yet, RCMP Communicators — the only female-dominated group in Canada’s federal public-safety system — were left out, despite years of advocacy from CUPE 104. The Treasury Board’s decision not only perpetuates gender inequity but also erodes morale, dignity, and retention within a profession already under severe strain.

RCMP Operational Communications Centres across the country are facing critical staffing shortages, with some operating at less than half capacity. The resulting burnout, turnover, and delayed emergency responses put both officers and the public at risk. Recognition under the PSSA would help stabilize staffing, improve recruitment, and acknowledge the mental and emotional toll of this essential work.

“Whether it’s a 911 emergency or a threat intercepted before it reaches Canadians, our members are the first line of defence. Leaving them out of public safety recognition isn’t just unfair — it’s dangerous.”

CUPE 104 is urging the government of Canada to amend the legislation before it moves through Parliament to include RCMP Public Safety Communicators in the public safety occupation classification.

The University of Toronto Press and Bookstore are fixtures of Canadian culture. The press produces some of the most compelling and influential titles in academic publishing and is the Canadian distributor for many other university presses. They are also the distributor for a huge number of popular and important Canadian publishers. Many of Canada’s greatest thinkers and writers have their ideas published or distributed by UTP.

But as an employer, their treatment of staff does not match their cultural standing.

UTP relies on a part-time workforce who regularly work full-time hours but are denied access to benefits and pensions. And coming through another pandemic, the employer should recognize the importance of sick days and health benefits. This is why CUPE 3261 members decided to unite in this round of bargaining for a fair contract with a hopeful outlook on the future of UTP as a place people want to work and retire.

Long term care workers from St. Vincent’s Nursing Home in Halifax, represented by CUPE 1082, have voted 97.5% in favour of a strike mandate. As the lead table for CUPE long term care bargaining, CUPE 1082 is fighting for better wages, improved recruitment and retention, and acknowledgment of the work of support services classifications for the entire sector.

“Long term care workers in Nova Scotia are the lowest paid in Atlantic Canada,” said CUPE 1082 President Janet MacDonald. “That’s not an exaggeration, that’s a fact, and it’s unacceptable. How are we supposed to care for your loved ones if we can’t even afford to care for our own?”

Several essential classifications in long term care, such as dietary aides and seamstresses, make less than $20 an hour, putting them well behind the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ living wage estimates for Nova Scotia. But they are not alone, classifications such as cooks and maintenance also make several dollars less than their counterparts in other Atlantic provinces.

“Wages shouldn’t be a race to the bottom,” continued MacDonald, “but, if they were, Nova Scotia would be dead last and that’s shameful.”

On September 22, members of CUPE 1082 alongside the CUPE Long Term and Community Care Committee attended the first fall seating at the legislature where questions about the lack of attention given to senior care workers in this province were posed.

“Minister Adams stood there and told us that they’re doing their best for long term care, that they gave CCAs [Continuing Care Assistants] a raise outside their contract,” said CUPE Long Term Care Coordinator Tammy Martin. “But long-term care is more than just CCAS. It’s LPNs, Licensed Practical Nurses, it’s support services, it’s an entire team that keeps each home running. Without even one of them, everything falls apart. We need a contract that acknowledges all of long-term care, not just one classification, and that’s what we’re fighting for.”

CUPE 2850, The Syndicat du personnel administratif, technique et professionnel du transport en commun, adamantly opposes the actions of Société de transport de Montréal (STM) senior management.

“What is the STM thinking? The STM eliminated 300 jobs, informing the employee representative only minutes before the public announcement, even though the parties were sitting across from each other in mediation. This is a flagrant lack of transparency and respect for workers,” said Stéphane Lamont, president of CUPE 2850. “Scheduled to take effect in 2026, these cuts are causing our members a great deal of anxiety by forcing them into total uncertainty.”

Bargaining table discussions broke down notably over the employer’s disappointing wage offers and requests for major rollbacks, mainly in terms of job security.

“The right direction would be to offer wage conditions that foster staff recruitment and retention, rather than wasting public money. Subcontracting costs in Quebec have skyrocketed. Scandals like SAAQclic are a telling example. It is clear that, by cutting jobs, the STM is moving to privatize a portion of the work. And yet, work done in house is the best guarantee of sound management,” concluded the local president.

Data from May 2025 show that 1,800 people currently work as subcontractors for the STM network.