SD44 – Unit Rep Election Meeting – Custodial and Maintenance Staff – February 24, 2024 @ 2:00 PM – In Person

On January 28th, at CUPE Local 389’s annual general meeting, the membership elected Tony Volpe as President.

Amir Bagheri was elected 1st Vice-President, and Jacoline Jansen as 2nd Vice-President. Kolton Smith was re-elected as Recording Secretary, and Joyce Griffiths was elected for the 3-year term of trustee.

Tony Volpe is a long-time employee of the District of North Vancouver where he has worked since 1995. He has served in various union capacities over the years of his involvement in the union, including as Vice-President. “My goal is to build great working relationships with our employers so that we can solve problems early, without resorting to expensive and lengthy legal battles. I have done this my entire career, and I believe my reputation speaks for itself.  I will put our members’ interests at the forefront of everything I do, and make our union once again strong and proud, while maintaining respectful and positive relationships with all our employers and contributing to the communities we serve. The members can rest assured that they have a fighter in me and feel confident that I am a person who will treat them with respect and courtesy,” said Volpe.

Amir Bagheri has served in various capacities in our union over the many years of his involvement and comes from the city of North Vancouver unit. He will serve as the first vice president.

Jacoline Jansen comes from the North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission and will serve as the second vice president as she begins her union career.

Kolton Smith comes from the District of North Vancouver and will continue to serve as Recording Secretary.

Joyce Griffiths is a long-time Union activist from the school district unit and has previously served as vice president and will oversee the finances of the local to assure our members’ contributions are being used in the best way possible.

“I am grateful for the trust the members have placed in me and will do my best to be their voice as we work together with our management partners to make our units great places to work and the community, we serve the best they can be” added Volpe.  One of Volpe’s first priorities is introducing working relationship agreements with our units to recommit to, and rebuild, positive working relationships.

“I wish to thank Yvette Mercier for her time as president of the local and wish her the best in the future,” concluded Volpe.

BURNABY – CUPE 4500 and Coast Mountain Bus Company concluded mediation today but were unable to reach a tentative agreement. Without a settlement in place, CUPE 4500 members will be withdrawing all services from Coast Mountain Bus Company at 3:00 a.m. PT, Monday, January 22 for 48-hours. 

“With the help of our mediator, CUPE 4500 put in an honest effort to find some common ground with Coast Mountain. But we are still not near where we need to be in addressing our key issues,” says Liam O’Neill, spokesperson for CUPE 4500. “For a fair settlement, CUPE 4500 members need wage discrepancies closed between them and other TransLink supervisors, and we need to tackle critical workload issues.”

Starting Monday morning, CUPE 4500 members will have up picket lines at Coast Mountain Bus Company Transit Centres in Vancouver, Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, and the SeaBus North Vancouver Terminal. Transit users in the Lower Mainland can expect the suspension of all bus and SeaBus services operated by Coast Mountain Bus Company.

“CUPE 4500 members are proud of the job we do for our passengers. Like them, our families and friends depend on transit too. We regret these disruptions and the challenges this will cause for the people we serve every day,” says O’Neill. “But Coast Mountain could have avoided this. Instead, they put us, and, through their inflexibility, transit users, in this situation.”

https://www.cupe.bc.ca/2024/01/22/cupe-4500-members-withdrawing-all-services-from-coast-mountain-bus-company/