Kootenay CUPE Local 748 members treated to honks of support at information picket line
By Bruce Fuhr
Vehicle after vehicle turning on and off Nelson Avenue sounded horns in support as the members of CUPE Local 748 staged an information picket line Monday outside Hume Elementary School in Fairview.
The picket line was erected after CUPE Local 748 recently served strike notice to the Kootenay Lake School District No. 8.
“We had a great turnout . . . lots of our members showed up which was great because we have such a big district,” Kootenay CUPE Local 748 president Michelle Bennett told The Nelson Daily.
“There was lots of honking from cars on the street,” Bennett added. “People were waving and honking their car horns. People were walking by on the street asking what we were doing. It was so uplifting for us.”
Nelson District Teachers Associations, City of Nelson CUPE members and Community Social Services members joined Kootenay CUPE Local 748 on the picket lines.
Kootenay CUPE Local 748 represents all employees in the School District No. 8 except members of the Kootenay Lake Teachers’ Federation and excluded management positions.
Kootenay Lake School District No. 8 stretches from Yahk in the east to Slocan City in the west, Salmo in the south and Meadow Creek in the north.
Bennett said this is the only protest planned for this school term, which ends June 30.
Monday’s information picket was designed to raise awareness that talks between the two sides have broken off instead of hampering students during the final weeks of the school term.
However, if negotiations do not resume in September, job action that affects students could be a card played by CUPE Local 748.
“I haven’t been contacted by the employer about any new talks,” Bennett explained. “Right now I think they’re waiting to see what happens provincially and the last I there wasn’t anything going on provincially.”
CUPE locals serving School Boards across the province have been without a contact since June 30, 2012.
Bargaining started in the fall of 2012. The two sides found no reason to continue after hitting an impasse after roughly eight sessions according to Bennett.
Bennett said wage increases and seniority at the local level are the two key issues in negotiations.
