Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore may have received the endorsement of the New Westminster District Labour Council (NWDLC) but not all labour organizations will be backing his bid for re-election.
Earlier this week, Bruce Richardson, vice-president of CUPE Local 561, which represents School District 43 employees, said his union would not be supporting the mayor's re-election bid.
(CUPE has not yet released its official list of endorsed candidates in the Tri-Cities.)
Richardson told The Tri-City News that Moore was too closely aligned with the Gordon Campbell BC Liberal government and turned his back on the union after CUPE endorsed his council candidacy in 2002.
"With the endorsement we gave him, he was able to get elected and after that it was goodbye," he said. "Moore was, at one time, a CUPE member. He came to us with a story that his heart was still with labour. That lasted until he got elected."
The fact that one labour group is supporting Moore while another is rejecting his candidacy does not bode well for either organization, Richardson said.
The NWDLC's decision is confusing, he added, and could create confusion when members go to the ballot box for next month's civic election.
"It is not a good thing," he said. "I am not happy with it. There will be that are one endorsement and not on the other. It is not an ideal situation for labour."
This is not the first time that CUPE has had disagreements with the NWDLC over who should be endorsed. In the 2008 civic election, the two organizations butted heads after the labour council chose not to support PoCo mayoral candidate Mike Bowen while CUPE gave him its endorsement. After that, CUPE Local 498, which represents PoCo city staff, pulled out of the NWDLC.
Carolyn Rice, the secretary-treasurer with the New Westminster District Labour Council, said her organization has a good relationship with CUPE. She said minor disagreements over endorsements are common and the two organizations both have similar goals.
"I guess everybody gets to have their opinion," she said. "We don't always agree 100%."
When contacted by The Tri-City News, Moore said he had yet to meet with CUPE officials and had not been personally told whether he received the endorsement.
Moore said he was happy to have the labour council's support and rejected Richardson's comments that he does not support workers.
"I don't think I have ever turned my back on a union," he said. "I have worked for the city as both a politician and a staff member for 17 years. I know many of these people and I have done many things to engage all of our staff."
gmckenna@tricitynews.com
FIREFIGHTERS BACK THREE
The union representing Port Coquitlam firefighters released its list this week of candidates its endorsing in next month's civic election.
Dale Truscott, president of Local 1941, said the group is recommending incumbent councillors Darrell Penner, Glenn Pollock and Brad West to its members.
Meanwhile, Truscott said off-duty members will be picking up election signs the day after the Nov. 19 election and storing them at the main fire hall, a service offered to "to all the mayoral and councillor candidates that wish to take advantage of our offer" for collection.
The union locals in Coquitlam and Port Moody have yet to disclose their lists of endorsed candidates.
jwarren@tricitynews.com
