Comrades and friends,

After taking a week to recover from a grueling conference of debating our Urban negotiation demand resolutions, we are able to start sharing some of what happened. Our elected conference delegates took all the local resolutions passed throughout the Prairies and debated which ones should be sent forward to our National executive board to be included in our National program of negotiation demands. My President's report offers an analysis of the conference (both good and bad) as well as a top ten list of the most important demands our region supported (of the 160 we passed).

Also included in this dispatch: the latest edition of our political comic 'No Relief', and detailed notes of what resolutions at conference passed or were defeated.

Please book yourself a vaccine appointment if you haven't already. Stay safe out there.

In Solidarity,

President's Report - May 2021 - Trust the Membership

This report covers:

1) Harassment complaints successfully chasing a supervisor from CPC.
2) Lessons from our conversation with CUPW radical, Jean-Claude Parrot.
3) A report on the Urban Regional negotiation demands conference.
4) The top 10 negotiation demands passed at Urban Regional conference.

Read full report: LINK

No Relief Presents: "Accidents"

Latest political comic from CUPW 730. Remember, whatever happens to you on your job, it's all your fault! (For those missing it, this is a sarcastic post.)

Resolution Notes From Urban Regional Negotiation Demands Conference 2021

Regional conference is a very time consuming and technical process. For a week leading up to conference, all Regional full-time officers were appointed to a Resolutions Committee to decide how the 309 resolutions submitted were to be packaged and ordered. The conference itself ran for three days where 100+ elected Prairie delegates debated and passed around 160 resolutions to go forward to our National negotiators to consider for our program of demands. For a more detailed analysis of the event you can read my President's report also included in this dispatch. Reports submitted by our delegates (as required by our bylaws) will be made available sometime after the submission deadline (June 2). Until then, here are the technical notes from the conference:

1) Urban conference notes - Numbers of the motions debated and if they passed or were defeated: LINK
2) Full resolution booklet - All resolutions submitted to the Urban Regional Conference for debate: LINK
3) Correction page - Error replacing a mistyped resolution: LINK
4) Resolution agenda - Re-numbering to decide what order the resolutions would be debated: LINK
5) Composite resolutions - These are similar resolutions combined into single resolutions: LINK

COVID-19 Updates - New Provincial Restrictions

Late May 4, the UCP government announced new public guidelines attempting to decrease a provincial infection rate that is now the highest in all of North America. One of those guidelines is that all K-12 students will now take classes from home. This creates an obvious strain on any of our members who have children in that age group. Here are our recommendations on how to navigate any childcare issues you may have:

1. CPC is pushing our members to first use their personal time or annual leave if they would like time off to deal with childcare issues.
2. Once your personal days are used up, members can apply for special leave (please read RSMC 19.03 or Urban 21.03).
3. When applying for special leave, ask your supervisor for the proper special leave forms. On those forms, be sure to document a strong case for why you have no alternative arrangements for childcare.
4. If denied special leave, a member could, alternatively, request time off without pay.
5. If you believe your application for special leave due to childcare issues has been unreasonable withheld, speak to a shop steward or our grievance office to file a grievance.

Regardless of our childcare circumstance, it is important we remain vigilant with our safety protocol. If you feel CPC is not doing enough to uphold safety standards on your workfloor, our office is here to support you if you choose to refuse unsafe working conditions (780-423-9000 ext. 4). 

Ongoing Reminder: Local Office Access

To stay aligned with the newest health guidelines, our office remains locked and available by appointment only. We are trying to conduct all meetings with members over the phone or via video conferencing. Exemptions can be made for unique circumstances. In either case, please call (780) 423-9000 to arrange an appointment with the appropriate officer. We are extremely busy in the office trying to put out a thousand different fires, so please leave a message if you’re unable to catch us on the phone.