Hotsheet #16

Media
Publishes lies and slanted stories
TRUTH!

Most media outlets are reporting this morning on the resumption of negotiations between CUPE 15 (inside workers) and the City.  A media blackout is in effect: “Inside workers, city resume bargaining under media blackout” (Vancouver Sun, September 11, 2007, p. B2 –)

Yesterday’s Vancouver Sun featured an editorial from NPA Councillor Peter Ladner (”Union demands pose an onerous burden for city taxpayers“, Vancouver Sun, September 10, 2007, p. A7 — ).

In this article, Councillor Ladner makes a number of claims regarding the benefits that CUPE members enjoy, and he maintains that accepting additional demands for the union will present an unexceptable tax burden for the citizens of Vancouver.  The Fairness For Civic Workers website has already posted a response to this editorial (http://www.fairnessforcivicworkers.ca/ ) but we also wanted to add some points for the benefit of CUPE 391 members.

Bear in mind that most of what Councillor Ladner writes concerns CUPE 15 exclusively.  In addition, most of the content appears to be a regurgitation of material from the spurious ads placed in the weekend editions of Vancouver newspapers last month.  For example, he raises the already discredited claim that city workers enjoy 51 paid days off per year.  As pointed out previously (See Hotsheet #2), this number includes compressed days which are NOT “paid” days off!  We question the publication of such an inflammatory editorial at a time when serious negotiations are just getting underway.