Announcements

Action Request – Bill 18

You may have heard that the BC Liberal government has introduced legislation that will, if passed, restrict our member’s rights.

Bill 18 – the Advanced Education Statutes Amendment Act, was introduced on November 3rd but has yet to be debated in the legislature. Most significantly, the legislation would ban union activists from serving on University boards, but it would also allow elected board members to be removed by a 2/3 vote of the Board.

Specifically, the legislation would prohibit members of Union, Faculty or Staff Associations who serve on their bargaining committees or local Executives from also serving on their institutions Board of Governors. We believe the proposed changes unfairly target union activists and disenfranchise our members. We also believe the changes are unnecessary – there is no evidence of a problem with employee and faculty representatives on Boards of Governors, at least none that have been brought to our attention.

CUPE is working with our members in the College and University sectors, as well as with other unions in those sectors to mobilize opposition to these changes. We are also working with the BCNDP critic for Advanced Education, MLA Michelle Mungall.

We need your assistance. We are asking you, as CUPE members who work at a college or university, to contact the Minister of Advanced Education and express your concerns with Bill 18. To make it easier, we have drafted two sample emails that you can use as written, or revise to your own liking. They’re attached to this memo.

When you send your email to the Minister, please also copy your own MLA as well as the MLA for the constituency in which your college or university is located. And please copy the NDP’s Michelle Mungall, so she can address your concerns when the Bill comes up for debate. Copying other MLAs – especially if they happen to be government MLAs, will help us to create more awareness of our concerns, and could potentially delay debate of the Bill. Email addresses for some MLA’s can be found on the next page, along with a link to look up the contact information for your own MLA.

We are asking you to take a few minutes of your time to send these emails as soon as possible –before November 16 in order to have the greatest impact, but no later than November 23. There are only two weeks left in this legislative session, and if we are able to create enough buzz we may be able to run out the clock and effectively ―kill the Bill‖.

In order that we can be as effective as possible in this effort, please send any and all responses you receive to Tania Jarzebiak, Legislative Coordinator, at tjarzebiak@cupe.ca . Tania is also happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you for your assistance and support!

Contact the Minister of Advanced Education:
Hon Naomi Yamamoto
Minister of Advanced Education
MLA, North Vancouver-Lonsdale
aved.minister@gov.bc.ca

Copy:
Michelle Mungall
MLA, Nelson-Creston
BCNDP Advanced Education Critic
michelle.mungall.mla@leg.bc.ca

MLA for Camosun College
Hon. Ida Chong
Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development
MLA, Oak Bay – Gordon Head
ida.chong.mla@leg.bc.ca

Sample Email 1

Dear Minister,
Why does Bill 18 ban union activists from sitting as elected representatives on college or university Boards of Governors?
As someone who works at ______________, I am not aware of any problems on our Board of Governors resulting from having staff and faculty representatives sit on the Board – even when those same people have also been active in their union or staff association. There are clear conflict-of-interest guidelines in place for all Board members.
With so many other challenges facing our colleges and universities, it doesn’t make sense to me that you are spending energy worrying about phantom problems that might result from having employees with union experience on our Board of Governors.
Can you please explain what the ―problem‖ is that Bill 18 is intended to ―fix‖, and why this is such a priority to you and your Ministry?
Sincerely,

Sample Email 2

Dear Minister,
work in the post-secondary education sector, at ________________.
I am a union member—and I’m passionate about my college/university and post-secondary education. I also happen to be active in my union. Can you please explain why you and your government think I’m not qualified to be an elected representative on the Board of Governors?
Why is Bill 18 discriminating against union activists?
Sincerely,

Group In House Courses

As you may or may not know…

Our CUPE Staff Development Fund provides that the Union can offer in joint consultation with the employer In House training courses/workshops for our members. The Union would like to hear from you what courses you would like to see offered!! Contact the CUPE 2081 office via email at cupe2081@camosun.bc.ca with your course ideas or requests and we’ll see what we can do to make it happen!

So far we’ve had a number of requests for Adobe Courses and we’re looking at offering a course in Adobe Acrobat Fillable Forms Level 2 sometime after Christmas for members… so stay tuned…These are courses are sponsored and paid for out of the CUPE Staff Development Fund that your Union negotiated for you.

To register for any advertised course from this fund, you will need to seek permission from your supervisor to attend. Courses are offered during your working hours so you do not have to use vacation or leave to attend. Once your supervisor approves you to attend you can register for the courses online. The information to register will be made available once we have confirmed dates for the course(s).

Greater Victoria CUPE Scholarships

CUPE 2081 members have once again contributed generously to this scholarship fund!

These scholarships are open only to sons and daughters of active members of contributing locals of the Canadian Union of Public Employees of the Greater Victoria area. Students from CUPE 2081 families may be awarded $300! The selection will be made on the basis of academic standing. An eligible student is limited to 2 awards from the fund, and will be under the age of 25 on December 31 of this year.

Application forms for UVic Students (Entrance and In-Course) are available from the UVic Student Awards and Financial Aid (SAFA) office, located on the second floor of University Centre - Room A202.

SAFA will not have an electronic version of these applications; rather they must be picked up in person and returned to SAFA. Available: June. Deadline: September 30.

Application forms for Non UVic Students (Entrance and In-Course) will be made available in PDF form on our CUPE 2081 Website (see PDF files, attached). Deadline: September 30.

For more information, contact Suzanne Wilkinson: WilkinsonS@camosun.bc.ca
Local 2081’s representative to the GV CUPE Scholarship Fund

Please note the following link to our new CUPE 2081 video production for the College's Works Campaign!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge our member Jason King, Roseanne Moran CUPE Communications, and all the participants involved in the making of this video.

The video is one part of our ongoing "Colleges Works Campaign" in conjunction with CUPE National.

http://cupe.ca/education/bccollegescupeca-website-helps-connect

For those of you enrolled in the Psychological Services Plan, please note that there will be a rebate coming to you in the near future. It was discovered that an overpayment was made to the plan. Your Union has requested those who made over payments to the fund be reimbursed. Thank you to the Payroll Staff in HR who are working diligently to get this rectified. It's hoped that you will see this reimbursement by the end of August. Payroll is working around vacations to accomplish this task. So Stay tuned!

A great turnout of CUPE 2081 and the Vancouver Island District Council Delegates at the 26th Annual Miners' Memorial Weekend!

President Jerry Oetting placed CUPE 2081's bouquet on behalf of the Local on Ginger Goodwin's grave along with other CUPE Locals, the VIDC and several other representing Unions and dignitaries.

It was an incredibly moving event with songs and stories of the past and present and the struggles the Union's still have in ensuring our rights, benefits and safety are protected.

Attached find some pictures of the event! If you've never been it's well worth the trip. Hope to see you there next year!

Vacation – it’s yours to use

Union negotiated for you over the years, an annual vacation entitlement.

Without a Union, you would start with only 2 weeks vacation, but here at Camosun, our Collective Agreement starts us off with 3 weeks and then provides more days as we gain seniority, up to 6 weeks per year, plus bonus days after 10, 15 and 20 year anniversary years. All that is in addition to the Christmas week.

We also have provision for carrying over up to 10 vacation days into to the next calendar year.

And don't forget, the break between Christmas Eve and New Years was negotiated by your Union on your behalf!

The Union has been asked, “What happens if I have more than 10 days to carry over? Do I lose the extra days?”
The answer is NO! You cannot lose your vacation days.

Here’s why:

Clause 2.01 tells us that it is the College’s right and responsibility to “direct the working forces,” which includes scheduling breaks and vacations as per the Collective Agreement (C/A). The C/A further dictates (Clauses 20.02 and 20.03) that we are to be informed of our vacation entitlement each February, that vacation schedules shall be determined by mutual agreement and seniority, that we will be informed in October of any unused vacation, and that there is a process and a form to carry over any remaining vacation days.

That clearly puts the onus on the College to ensure our vacations are being scheduled and carry-over forms are submitted. And here’s an important point:
The C/A does not say vacation “may” be carried over…it says, “the remaining entitlement will be carried over to the following year.” And then it goes on to say, “With mutual agreement, such vacation entitlement may be converted to additional pay.”

But nowhere does it say Too Bad, So Sad, you lose the extra days.

The Union negotiated vacation because vacation is important to our health, our families, and yes, our ability to do our jobs efficiently and effectively.

But workload and resources being what they are, sometimes things come up, and our managers are busy over-worked people too, so sometimes things do fall through the cracks. If for any reason you have more than the allotted 10 days to carry over, do not violate your own Collective Agreement by abandoning those extra days. Think about it…losing a vacation day would be the same as working for free.

It is not your fault if you have more vacation left than the carry-over clause allows. It is the College’s responsibility to ensure an appropriate vacation schedule gets created and followed. It is also the College’s responsibility to set priorities, and authorize overtime (or not) and hire additional staff (or not).

If you believe you’ve lost out on any vacation, whether it’s because of too much carry-over time, or failing to submit the carry-over form, contact the Union office or a Union Steward.

They will ensure your vacation allotment is rectified, either in the form of carry-over or as a cash payout.

After all, it’s part of your compensation and is rightfully yours.