Six hundred front-line health and social service workers from every corner of B.C. meet in Richmond tomorrow for the 23rd biennial convention of the 46,000-member Hospital Employees’ Union (CUPE).
It will be the first convention the union has held since the election of the Liberal government. Delegates will be surveying the damage done to health care and talking about ways to fight back.
HEU secretary-business manager Chris Allnutt, the union’s chief spokesperson, will provide a comprehensive report to delegates at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday. He’ll review the union’s response to the Campbell government’s radical restructuring of health care which has resulted in closed nursing homes and hospitals, privatization, and growing chaos throughout the health care system.
Delegates will also choose 20 members of the union’s provincial executive.
Media are welcome to attend the convention, which takes place October 7 through October 11 at the Richmond Inn (Westminster Hwy. and Minoru Blvd.). The proceedings begin each morning at 9:00 a.m. Microphone feeds are available on the convention floor.
CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS: Monday, October 7 10:15 a.m. - Mary Laplante, HEU’s financial secretary, reports to delegates
2:20 p.m. - Judy Darcy, national president and Claude Genereux, national secretary-treasurer, of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, address delegates
3:45 p.m. - Fred Muzin, HEU president, reports to delegates
Wednesday, October 9 10:30 a.m. - Chris Allnutt, HEU secretary-business manager, reports to delegates
Thursday, October 10 1:30 p.m. - Joyce Jones, Seniors Network BC, addresses delegates
Contact: Mike Old, communications officer, 604-828-6771 (cell)