Whistler municipal workers walk out, then address Resident Affordability Task Force
[Apr 5, 2005 01:16 PM] WHISTLER - After a heated incident at work, Whistler municipal workers walked off the job yesterday. Rather than hitting the picketline, the workers address the municipally-appointed Resident Affordability Taskforce at Whistler Council chambers and presented them with CUPE 2010's concerns around affordability in Whistler. CUPE 2010 president Peter Davidson pointed to page 5 of the draft Resident Affordability Strategy that reads: “Whistler’s higher cost of living means that many employers pay employees higher wages in order to attract and retain them.” Davidson asked the Taskforce to urge the Resort Municipality of Whistler to do as other model employers are doing in Whistler and as their own sustainability plans dictate – namely, get back to the bargaining table and offer their municipal employees a fair contract that includes a “Whistler living allowance”. The municipal workers have been engaged in work-to-rule job action since February 28, 2005 and have been without a contract since December 2003. CUPE 2010 wage rates are largely set to GVRD rates, but the cost of living in Whistler is 30 percent higher than in other areas of the province. CUPE 2010 President Peter Davidson presented his local’s submission to the Taskforce regarding their draft strategy and asked them why out of the 11-member appointed Taskforce members, there were only business and management representatives and no representatives from labour. Davidson offered to join the Taskforce to represent working people in Whistler. CUPE 2010 members returned to work today, vowing to escalate action further if the Resort Municipality of Whistler doesn’t get back to the bargaining table and in the meantime ensure all municipal workers are treated with respect in the workplace. A copy of CUPE 2010’s submission to the Resident Affordability Taskforce can be found below. For more information, please contact: Peter Davidson, CUPE 2010 President, c: (604)935-8603 Diane Kalen, CUPE communications, o: (604)291-1940, ext. 240.
