Corporate body

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 1975, University of Saskatchewan Employees' Union.

After a strike in 1974, the University of Saskatchewan Employees' Union (Local 54, Canadian Labour Congress) was reborn as CUPE Local 1975 in October 1975. Since joining CUPE the Local has undergone an internal evolution as new sectional groups, such as the Library, have begun to play an active role equal to the founding physical plant group. While no other strike has followed, use of the grievance procedure and committee activity has dramatically increased. CUPE 1975 also plays a leading role in the Saskatchewan trade union movement. This is in keeping with the fact that 1975's 1800 members, plus 400 in Regina, represents the single largest union local in the province. Some other general features should be noted about CUPE 1975. In 1975 University of Regina support staff were awarded sublocal status by CUPE. The result is a parallel set of union structures on the Regina campus and a Joint Council Executive Board to coordinate the two support staff groups. Also, with the tendency to cutbacks and privatization in the 1980s, groups who received wages and benefits patterned on CUPE 1975, such as janitors and student workers at the Student Union building (Place Riel) and cooks, waitresses, bartenders, and caretakers at the Faculty Club, have formalised this practice by becoming members of CUPE 1975 and signing contracts with their respective employers. In the case of the Prairie Swine Centre, members of CUPE 1975 have found themselves outside the bargaining unit with a change of employer and have had to negotiate a new and independent collective agreement. For reasons of job security, however, they have chosen to remain as members of CUPE 1975, like the larger example of University of Regina support staff. 1975-1 has also been affected by privatization with a separate sublocal of food service workers organised in 1992.