Two educators take on their unions over use of dues for political causes

    VANCOUVER, Nov. 21 /CNW/ - Two union members have won a bid to be heard
at BC Supreme Court to protest their unions spending the money they pay in
mandatory union dues on causes the members do not support. Gloria Laurence and
Wendy Weis have been named as parties to the case in the unions' legal
challenge against third-party election spending.
    "We strongly believe that union dues should be used for collective
bargaining purposes only, not for political advertising," says Laurence, a
Special Education Assistant and a member of CUPE. She is joined in this legal
bid by Weis, an Integrated Support Teacher and a member of BCTF. "We want the
court to hear our voices in this case, because at the very least, we want to
limit how much of our union dues can be spent on political causes."
    In the 2005 election, four B.C. unions spent nearly $3 million trying to
get the NDP elected. Four of these unions have launched a legal challenge in
B.C. Supreme Court against Bill 42, which limits third parties to spending
during provincial elections.
    "These two educators are simply standing up for the individual rights of
union members to support causes of their own choosing," says Philip Hochstein,
President of the Independent Businesses and Contractors Association. "When we
learned that Gloria and Wendy were getting involved in this issue, our
association decided to support them. It's time British Columbia's labour
unions stopped using the dues of working men and women to finance their
political agenda."
    A September 2008 public opinion poll by LabourWatch found that eight in
ten (79 per cent) union members in Canada oppose the use of union dues for
political purposes.

    About ICBA (www.icba.ca)

    ICBA services and represents B.C.'s construction sector. ICBA is
pro-employee and pro-workers' rights, and continues to support actions that
protect the democratic rights of all workers.

For further information: Media contact: Carla Shore, Communications
Director, carla@icba.ca, P: (604) 298-7795, C: (604) 329-0975; Philip
Hochstein, President, Philip@icba.ca, P: (604) 298-7795, C: (604) 561-9402