NOVA SCOTIA UNION OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EMPLOYEES

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NSUPE History

NSUPE'S DEVELOPMENT

NSUPE began in 1974. In that year a group of employees who worked for the City of Dartmouth (outside workers) (Local 1) and a group that worked for the Dartmouth District School Board (custodial and maintenance) (Local 2) broke away from a large national union of which they had been members for many years. Those involved at the time tell us they did not feel they were getting fair representation with the other union and, more importantly, that union was not providing workplace representation and servicing for them. These two groups formed NSUPE Local 1 and NSUPE Local 2 and hired an experienced trade unionist to represent them in their grievances and other workplace problems. This in_the_workplace, professional representation has been enhanced by NSUPE over the years and continues to this day.

In 1977, Eastern Shore Memorial Hospital employees (non_nursing) (Local 3) decided to get unionized and joined NSUPE as Local 3. This small Local combining its money with the rest of NSUPE was able to rely on representation by someone who knew the ropes and whose job it was to provide that service.

In 1984 the inside workers at the City of Dartmouth (clerical, administrative, technical and professional) (Local 4) joined NSUPE after having reviewed other, larger unions. They looked at NSUPE contracts and saw that they were the best in the field. More importantly, they wanted someone with expertise, working for the union, who would be able to represent them in the workplace, for daily problems as well as at negotiating time. NSUPE was the only choice.

In 1989 employees of the City of Dartmouth who operated the Dartmouth Ferry System (Local 5) (now part of Metro Transit) looked at where other employees of the City were going with NSUPE and felt they were being left behind. They, for decades, had been in a national union which claimed to specialize in employees connected to the water. These employees approached NSUPE and voted unanimously to leave their old union to join NSUPE.

In 1991, the Teacher Assistants and Library Assistants at the Dartmouth District School Board (Local 7) reviewed their contract and the representation they got as members of a very large national union. They felt abandoned by their union throughout the pay equity process and had depended on NSUPE to provide them with information, to lobby on their behalf with the employer and to win them pay equity payments in 3 years while most everyone else had to wait 4 years. At the first opportunity they voted to leave their old union and join NSUPE.

In 1994 school bus drivers who were employees of the City of Dartmouth (Local 8) and provided services to the Dartmouth District School Board realized that they had been in a non_union, isolated situation for too long. Working conditions were horrible and they were at the whim and wish of management. They approached NSUPE, learned about this union they had heard of from other employees, and joined. While their conditions improved markedly, in 1996 these jobs were privatized by the amalgamation of three school boards and they were required to join the NSGEU which represented employees already working for, Stock Transportation, the private company.

Also in 1994 inside workers in the City of Halifax (Local 11) who had been part of a large national union since the 1960's, compared contracts and found NSUPE's were considerably better. Importantly they found that NSUPE enforced its contracts and that only the membership could change the contract. They learned that NSUPE's Business Agents deal with individual members and their problems, attend union meetings and support them in meetings with management. After a very quick sign_up campaign and a long and difficult legal process initiated by the employer and the other union, these employees became full members of NSUPE in 1995.

While the 1995 struggle in Halifax was taking place, Bedford employees (inside and outside employees) (Locals 10 and 9), previously not unionized, began thinking about getting unionized. Some individuals approached other unions to check them out, but were ignored or rebuffed because they were too small. When they approached NSUPE we responded quickly, explaining the nature of democratic unionism, the philosophy of NSUPE and the type and method of service we provided. The outside workers joined NSUPE and the inside workers quickly followed.

In 1996, in the midst of the Halifax Regional amalgamation campaign, a group of Red Cross employees in Nova Scotia (now Canadian Blood Services _ Clinic Assistants and Transport Drivers) (Local 12) came to NSUPE looking for help. First organized in a large national union, they left that union in 1983 because of lack of servicing and joined a local union in Halifax. They stuck with that union through a mixed history. They came looking for help in 1996 because their union was threatening that if they did not accept an employer proposal to make most of them part_time, the union would abandon them if the employer locked them out. They signed up with NSUPE just before they were intimidated by their union into accepting a take_away contract. In 2003 the CBS Recruitment Co-ordinators signed up to join their co-workers.

In April 1996 about 500 municipal employees (inside workers) from the newly formed Halifax Regional Municipality (Local 13) voted by a large majority to make NSUPE their amalgamated union. These included our long time Dartmouth members our Bedford members, the new Halifax members and those from the previously non_union Halifax County and Metropolitan Authority.

In February 1997 about 430 custodial and maintenance employees at the newly amalgamated Halifax Regional School Board (Local 2) voted overwhelmingly to unite in NSUPE. NSUPE had represented about 90 of these employees at the old Dartmouth District School Board, but the rest voted to leave their old unions (including the largest union in Canada and the largest union in Nova Scotia) to become members of NSUPE.

Later on in 1997 the 320 un_unionized employees of the newly amalgamated Halifax Regional Library (Local 14) canvassed a number of unions and then invited NSUPE to organize them. In December of 1998, after long, legalistic certification process, NSUPE was certified to represent these employees.

In April 2000 we brought in 10 employees of Homes for Independent Living (NS) (Local 15) who had been abandoned by the union that organized them seven years earlier. These employees assist physically disabled and injured individuals to work towards independent living.

Later in 2000 we brought in the 25 employees of the Conway Workshop Association (Local 16) who assist individuals with mental disabilities to develop to their full capacities.

In 2002 the employees of the Airport Hotel Halifax (Local 17) left a large American based union that they had become unhappy with to join us, as did employees of the Holiday Inn Harbourview Local 18).

On May 31, 2006 we welcomed all employees, except RNs, of Canadian Blood Services in Prince Edward Island (Local 19). This is NSUPE’s first certification outside Nova Scotia.

In December 2006 the custodial and maintenance employees of Saint Mary’s University (Local 20) voted to leave a large American based union and join NSUPE.

Unfortunately, we lost some good and loyal members because of amalgamations, either because they were out_voted or because they were forced into another, larger union by the Department of Labour. These include the outside workers in Dartmouth (Local 1) and Bedford (Local 9), the ferry operators (Local 5), the Teacher and Library Assistants at the Dartmouth District School Board (Local 7)and our CNA's, technicians and support staff at the Eastern Shore Memorial Hospital (Local 3).

We also lost a couple of bargaining units to surreptitious activities of an employer and another American based union. We had organized the Dartmouth Sportsplex employees (Local 6) but a very few who did not want a union worked with the employer to push through a decertification before we could get a first collective agreement. In the other case, the employees of the Holiday Inn Harbourview (Local 18) had come to NSUPE from a large American union that provided them no benefit. A couple of years later those employees succumbed to the deceit of another American union that had been given the bargaining rights for other hotel employees in Halifax and left NSUPE in the vain hope of getting a decent benefits and pension plan.

NSUPE hopes to be able to continue building representative, democratic unions in many workplaces. To better reflect our membership and our ability to grow, our 2001 Convention changed our name to the Nova Scotia Union of Public and Private Employees, still referred to as NSUPE. We have a proven history of over 30 years of democratic, in_the_workplace servicing and representation. Since 1995 NSUPE has been affiliated to the Confederation of Canadian Unions, a national organization of unions.