A company pays you for your labour, not so you can abdicate all moral responsibility.

By now, you’ve seen the video of a doctor being dragged off a United Airlines flight. For obvious reasons, it is upsetting. But the more insidiously upsetting thing is that we have become inured to one another: Human beings enforced the company’s rules (Continue)

Click here to see a PowerPoint presentation entitled the the Canada Infrastructure Bank and the Perversities of Predatory Capital. This is of interest to our members as they need to know how the government is putting more and more money in privatization initiatives.

Please read the report by John Loxley titled " The Collapse of P3 Giant Carillion and Its Implications. This is an important report to read as the causes and consequences extend from the United Kingdom to Canada. For example, the airport cleaners who work in the Lester B. Pearson Airport are employed by Carillion. We all should be concerned.

Please read the article written by Sarah Ryan in March 2017 titled " Economics 101: Decoding Social Impact Bonds which is a new form of privatization that is allowing private investors to profit from social services under the guise of impact investing.
https://cupe.ca/economics-101-decoding-social-impact-bonds

Read this report by Toby Sanger, Cupe National Economist, about how predatory private finance seized control of Canada's new infrastructure bank.

Here is the NATIONAL CONTRACTING OUT AND PRIVATIZATION COORDINATING COMMITTEE REPORT (NCCPC) presented at the 2017 National Convention. It is a detailed and comprehensive report the committee wrote about privatization about our findings from 2015 to 2017.

CUPE, Canada’s leading airline union representing 11,500 flight attendants with several airlines, has been in discussions with interested WestJet cabin crew members looking for union representation. Following the unionization of WestJet pilots, many WestJet cabin crew members are now looking to CUPE to represent them. As a growing national airline in Canada, WestJet cabin crew members deserve the support of a national union and the resources and expertise it can to amplify their voice at work.

With over 11,500 flight attendant members, CUPE is Canada’s flight attendant union.

To sign a CUPE membership application card, click here.
To learn more, contact westjet@cupe.ca or call 1-844-437-1822.

There's new interest in an old idea: a basic income guarantee (BIG), also known as a guaranteed minimum income (GMI) or a universal basic income (UBI).
While names and proposals vary, the key concept is that government should ensure a basic minimum income for all. Many countries already do to some extent through social assistance and other income support programs, but these often involve means-testing and provide below poverty-level incomes. A GMI would replace or supplement existing income support programs with a simple basic income guarantee, with the goal of eliminating poverty.
It may seem radical, but the idea has been around for a long time and has support that spans the political spectrum. Former conservative senator Hugh Segal has advocated a GMI for years, many anti-poverty activists support it, Scandinavian countries are trying it and now Canada's new federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development wants to examine the idea. Few people know Dauphin, Manitoba, was the site of a pilot basic income project 40 years ago. The provincial NDP and federal Liberal governments introduced a "Mincome" in 1974. The project was cancelled five years later when federal and provincial Conservative governments took over. It was never officially evaluated at the time. In 2011, analysis of the Dauphin project's archive files found many positive social and health benefits, and that it didn't really reduce incentives to work. When it did, it was often for positive reasons, like caring for infants or completing education. A pilot project is currently running in Ontario.

Canada's unions say they are pleased to see this year's federal budget commit to moving forward on universal pharmacare and pay equity.
Today's federal budget commits to setting up an Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare headed up by former Ontario health minister Dr. Eric Hoskins.
The federal budget also promises to deliver long overdue proactive pay equity legislation in the Budget Implementation Act. After calling on the federal government to take action for years, CUPE is pleased to finally see a commitment on pay equity in Budget 2018, but stresses the need for more action from the federal government to support working women across the board.
CUPE is dismayed at the federal government's continued failure in Budget 2018 to pursue tax fairness despite repeated calls from experts and civil society organizations who had been calling on the government to crack down on tax havens, close CEO stock option loopholes, and require international digital corporations like Uber and Facebook to collect and remit sales tax like any other business.
CUPE is also astonished to discover that the government will lose $2.1 billion in revenues over four years from tariffs foregone as a result of signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
For a deeper analysis, read CUPE's article on Budget 2018 here https://cupe.ca/federal-budget-2018-whats-it-and-whats-not-should-be

Privatized airports: Will this disaster land in Canada?
The Federal Government is examining the possibility of privatizing Canadian airports in order to profit from expansion opportunities, capitalize on infrastructure investments and increase revenue at the expense of the traveling public, who may be subject to higher airport improvement fees or ticket prices. Privatization is a tactic being considered by governments across the country, and CUPE is doing its best to flight back. See the Counterpoint articles, the report on pensions and privatization, the CUPE Ontario actions and the CUPE National Privatization and Contracting Out Committee report all at http://www.cupe.ca.

The federal government owns 26 airports across Canada. The airports are privately managed by non-profit airport authorities that pay rent to the government and reinvest revenues back into the facilities. Airports are essential to travelers and our economy. But the government is now considering privatizing them. Privatization will further increase costs and leave Canadian airlines struggling to compete. A drop in business for Canadian airlines means job cuts, including for CUPE members. To maximize profits, airline owners will likely introduce cost-cutting measures that affect the quality of air travel and continue to place pressure on their employees’ wages and benefits.

Click herefor a recent opinon piece and check out cupe.ca for more info.

Another hot topic is the idea of a universal drug plan.While we are all proud of our universal health care, Canada is the only developed country with universal health insurance that does not also offer universal prescription drug coverage. A common explanation for this hole is our system is that the cost of such a program would be prohibitive. Research is coming to light from some universities and stakeholders in the health care system that a nationwide pharmacare program could save Canadians billions of dollars and be cost neutral or even cost savings for governments. These cost savings can be realized due to the economies of scale taking into account drug price negotiations and better product selection. With drug costs rising quickly, sometimes even exponentially overnight, having a nationwide pharmacare system would place Canada in a better position to negotiate lower prices in the future for expensive treatments. For more info check out the CBC report here.