CUPE members unite in rejecting Health Science Professionals agreement

BURNABY — CUPE 1978 members are the final CUPE group to vote on and reject the proposed agreement in the Health Sciences Professionals sector.

The two-year deal features no general wage increase and no new money.

Members of CUPE Local 1978, representing workers with Vancouver Island Health Authority, voted 97.2 per cent against the proposed agreement.

“Our members will be particularly affected by the red-circling of their jobs,” explained CUPE 1978 health unit chair Randall Filan. “They didn’t consider the increase in benefits to be enough reason to warrant voting for the deal.”

Members of CUPE Local 4816, representing members with Fraser Health Authority, voted 100 per cent last week against this tentative agreement and members of CUPE local 15, representing members with Vancouver Coastal Health voted 95 per cent against the deal earlier this week.

“Red-circling doesn’t just affect someone’s wage, it also locks them into their current job restricting movement in the workplace, which doesn’t help workers or the employer,” Filan commented.

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