CUPE national rep makes the point

This week's Whistler Question featured a point-counterpoint section that gave an opportunity to CUPE 2010 to outline their position on the need for a "Whistler living allowance". CUPE national representative and chief negotiator Robin Jones made his point and was counterpointed by local businessman Bob Lorimer.

The question was: Should the RMOW give in to CUPE’s demand for a $4,000 cost-of-living allowance, and why?

CUPE 2010 is not asking the RMOW to "give in" on any particular issue. We are asking the RMOW to work with us, their municipal workers, at the bargaining table to address our concerns around affordability and drop their demands for benefit rollbacks.

Despite the vital services we provide to Whistler residents and visitors, like water and wastewater treatment – services that require a stable and established workforce to ensure public safety – RMOW refuses to even discuss our concerns around affordability.

Currently, over half of CUPE 2010 members cannot afford to live in the community they serve, creating retention problems for Whistler and undermining the stable infrastructure and services a community needs to be strong.

We ask only what we want for others

We are seeking a fair contract that deals with affordability in the same way the RMOW has chosen to address affordability for their managers – through employee wages and benefits.

RMOW managers earn well above the wage rates of managers in communities of comparable size – like Quesnel or Nelson. Whistler’s chief administrator makes over $200,000 a year and the HR manager is pushing $100,000. Many get employer vehicles to help them with transportation costs. And we say ‘good for them’ – because a ‘living allowance’ is built-into their wage, making it affordable for them to live where they work.

In their draft strategy, Whistler’s Resident Affordability Taskforce has recognized this approach – namely through income and innovative benefits - as one of the five critical ways for Whistler to achieve its affordability objectives by the year 2020.

On page 5 of their strategy the Taskforce writes: "Whistler’s higher cost of living means that many employers pay employees higher wages in order to attract and retain them." These employers range from small contractors to BC Hydro ($5,000 per year) to large financial institutions, like the Royal Bank (12% after gross) and North Shore Credit Union.

We are asking RMOW to put their money where their mouth is and set an example, like other employers in Whistler, and address affordability for its municipal workers head on. In addition to a living allowance, that also means dropping RMOW demands for benefit rollbacks.

Not into fairness? How about labour market economics?

Employers like to talk to us a lot about the law of supply and demand – especially when they are demanding concessions from their workers. I don’t hear it mentioned though, when it is labour that is in high demand and low supply – as is the case in Whistler today.

In 2003/2004 Whistler faced a labour shortage of 330 full time workers. The main reason for this shortage of labour supply is the high cost of living and wages that don’t keep up with it. Basic economics tells you what many employers in Whistler accept as a given – you got to pay your workers more to work here.

I believe all workers should make a living wage regardless of supply and demand, but the truth remains that a living wage is higher in a community where the cost of living is higher.

CUPE 2010 by-law officers are making $14 an hour. That’s is not a living wage in Whistler. You can’t raise a family in Surrey on that wage – let alone in Whistler.

Building strong communities

For those cowboys that think a "you don’t like it, hit the road jack" attitude is going to cut it – think again. Communities aren’t built on attitudes like that.

Communities are inclusive, supportive and open to people through all stages of their life, whether they are students, raising children, starting a new career or retiring. They offer stable and affordable public services and opportunities for rewarding employment to its residents.

Whistler has a long way to go before it can offer as much to its residents as it does to its tourists – but offering its employees a living allowance to enable them to afford to live in the community they serve is a great step in the right direction.

Robin Jones

CUPE National Representative and chief negotiator for CUPE 2010