Announcements

Please find the link to the PharmaCare Formulary Search engine here.

http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/pharmacare/benefitslookup/

As of May 13th, 2013 the members will be moving towards a change in the prescription drug plan provided through Manulife. Only drugs listed on the BC Pharmacare Formulary will be eligible for reimbursement, unless you retain special authorization through PharmaCare.

Claims incurred prior to May 13th, 2013
Most drugs legally required a written prescription from a Physician or Dentist were eligible.

Claims incurred on or after May 13th, 2013
Only drugs listed on the Formulary are eligible for reimbursement unless you obtain Special Authroization through PharmaCare. Members will be provided a Pay Direct Card allowing claims to be submittted electronically by the pharmacist.

The impact on you and your family will depend on your current drug usage.

If you have obtained special authority in the past, you need only forward a copy of the approval to Manulife. If you have not obtained approval in the past you will need ot speak with your physician about applying for Special Authorization.

You can check your prescriptions on the website by using the DIN number of your prescription or entering a partial/full name of your prescription to see if it requires special authority.

If it does, your doctor can either make the request or suggest an alternative medication which is covered. If the special authority request is not successful, you will need to notify the Union office and also contact Marie Glover, at glover@camosun.bc.ca and enter in the subject line "formulary". That will prioritize your email and we will attempt to work on a solution for you.

We know there will be some "glitches" along the way as this is a new process across the province in the college's sector and will do our best to limit the impacts and resolve them for you as quickly as possible.

At last night's general membership meeting the local honoured the longest serving Bargaining Chair of CUPE Local 2081 - Ed Nicholas. Ed has served the local as Bargaining chair since the 80's and has done an amazing job in both his skills at the table and mentoring those who have participated on the committees and table teams over the year. A slide presentation tribute, cake and a gift were presented. Thank you Ed!!

Here are the Election results from our AGM held March 26th, 2013
Vice President - Tony Nelson
Secretary Treasurer - Ranbir Prihar
Chief Steward/Office Coordinator - Louise Oetting
Recording Secretary - Jennifer Erwin
Job Evaluation Coordinator - Gail Barnard
Member at Large - Megan Hale
Member at Large - Mike Logan
Campus Coordinator Interurban - Shirley Wendland
Campus Coordinator Lansdowne - Ida Colantonio
Trustee - Patrice Palmerino

Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting.

Thank you to our incoming and outgoing Executive and committee members who have participated and supported their Local over their term(s) of office.
On behalf of the Executive and Committee's of CUPE Local 2081 they look forward to serving you for the upcoming terms of office.

CUPE 2081 has reached a settlement with our employer and the provincial table. Detail will follow once PSEA has ratified.
Please contact the Union office if you have any questions.

It's time to elect your officers and committees again!
Positions up for election include:
Vice President - 2 year term
Recording Secretary - 2 year term
Secretary Treasurer - 2 year term
Chief Steward/Office Coordinator - 2 year term
2 Members at Large - 1 year term
Lansdowne Campus Coordinator - 1 year term
Interurban Campus Coordinator -1 year term
Student Society Sub Local Coordinator - 1 year term
Trustee - 3 year term

1 year term committee representatives:
VIDC
VLC
JOSH cttee and alternate
LMCC
JE (alternate)

Hope to see you at the meeting!

Welcome back from a much needed holiday break. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas break. Many have been asking about the status of Bargaining. We are hoping to have some conclusion to the process soon. A meeting is scheduled with employer representatives February 6th. We are hopeful there will be a settlement and we can move forward to bringing you a package to review and vote on. Stay tuned!

The Childcare Services members are once again putting on the Victoria Tea Festival. This important event assists in generating funds to support our Childcare services and those who use the facilities in order to attend Camosun College. Support your childcare services and support the future students of Camosun by attending this worthwhile event! $20 will get you in the door and you can purchase tickets through the Interurban Childcare Centre or the Lansdowne Bookstore.

As the season is upon us and the College year is drawing to a close it’s time to pause and reflect on the past year and our accomplishments.

We’ve seen many of our members retire and move on to other careers outside of the college. I’m sad to see people leaving who have been a huge part of the College Community over the years. We continue to wish them every success in their future and that they stay connected.

The biggest issue aside from the usual every day to day union issues is what everyone is concentrating on right now… a successful conclusion to our bargaining.

You the members stood solid and voiced to the employer and government as a whole that we want to be treated fairly and equitably with other groups. That message was loud and clear!

The enthusiasm for the rally after the two days of job action is a testament to how active our members are at CUPE 2081!

As indicated yesterday we are still unable to finish off the Local table bargaining. The Bargaining team has asked for dates to move us forward with the employer in January and are awaiting a response. I’m still hopeful we’ll get a deal done and get it to you to ratify before 2014 (kidding).

In the meantime, on behalf of the Executive, the Stewards, and all of our representatives and activists who sit on committees and are involved in the community, I want to extend a warm Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, to you all in the Holiday Season.

I hope that you all enjoy the three days that were negotiated for you by the union many years ago. They allow us to spend some needed and enjoyable time away from work and with our families and friends.

I’m proud to see the activism that has been achieved over the past year and the people who have come forward, new and old to fill positions and to take on other activities with the local. I’m also proud of the members who are asking questions about the Collective Agreement, contacting stewards for assistance and ensuring that they are being treated fairly.

Remember, you are the Union. Your activism, your input and your participation is why we have the benefits and Collective Agreement which supports you. As I’ve said before, it was not given to us, it was something fought for by the many activists and members of your Union. We should all be proud to be members of CUPE 2081!

To you and yours, All the Best of the Season!

In solidarity and on behalf of the Executive,

Louise Oetting
Chief Steward/Office Coordinator
CUPE Local 2081 - Camosun College Support Staff

Myself, your union executive and your strike committee would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support in the job actions that have been initiated thus far. The withdrawal of services, or strikes, are always the last resort as everyone suffers – staff, students, faculty and the college alike. It is not a decision that we enter into lightly.

This afternoon, over 200 of our members braved the cold and rain to rally outside of MLA Ida Chong’s office to deliver a message to her and her colleagues in government. That message was plain and simple – we want to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect! And that message was delivered loud and clear when we presented the letter to her personally.

For those of you that were at the rally, you heard me say what I am about to write next. I quote directly from my friend and colleague in Admissions and Enrolment Services, Charles Jeyapal:

“We turn out future cops, future nurses, future environmentalists, future engineers, future businessmen, future child care workers and innovators. We fix your public transit busses and pilot your ferries. We provide education for people serving in the national defense sector. We build your buildings and make sure they operate smoothly once they’re up. We produce artists, musicians and accountants And let’s not forget we even educate future politicians… Important gears and cogs that keep the Canadian economy humming smoothly. To say we are worth less than our university counterparts is saying the work we do here and the people we produce are equally worthless.”

We had support from CUPE Locals 3886 (Royal Roads), 441 (Saanich School District) & 947 (Victoria School Board Inside Workers). Speakers were Victoria Labour Council President Mike Eso, CCFA President Kelly Pitman, Victoria City Councilor Ben Isitt, NDP Candidate for Oak Bay – Gordon Head Jessica Van der Veen and CCSS spokepeople Madeline Keller-MacLeod & Piotr Burek – all there in solidarity and support for our fight to be treated respect, dignity and fairness.Provincial bargaining is taking place this weekend. Let us hope that the message that each you sent not only today, but last week as well, will not fall on deaf ears. I urge each of you to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard and draft a letter to the editor of the Times-Colonist or your local Black Press paper or call up your MLA and ask them to put pressure on the government to sign a fair contract. This contract will not get settled unless we keep the pressure up!

Camosun College works because we do – plain and simple. Thank you for all that you do and continue to do. Remember, you are the union!

In Solidarity,

Tony Nelson

CUPE 2081

Vice- President

November 23, 2012 by Greg Pratt, editor-in-chief Nexus Newspaper

Following two days of job action on both Camosun Lansdowne and Interurban campuses, and a public declaration of support from the Camosun College Student Society, CUPE 2081 chief steward Louise Oetting is happy with what the union has achieved.

“All I can say is that we’re very proud and pleased with the support we received from the student society and the students over the past two days and it really is not our wish to inconvenience anyone,” says Oetting. “But from our standpoint, these are jobs that many students should be eyeing as their future and we want them to inherit good jobs with good working conditions.”

The picket lines are down and the strikes are off for now, although the picket lines may or may not come back up, depending on how a meeting on Thursday, November 22 goes.

Striking CUPE workers under the union flag (photo by Lucas Milroy/Nexus).

“What we’ve seen over the past two years has been a blatant disregard by the BC Liberals in interfering with a free collective bargaining process and our employer,” she says. “It’s our hope that now that we have an opportunity to engage the deputy minister of advanced education directly [on Thursday], we’ll see some movement and won’t need to disrupt classes any further.”

Oetting is also issuing a call to students to lend a hand in the process.

“In our view, if the students can help us we’d appreciate it,” she says. “Call the college president, call their MLAs, and call the minister of advanced education. Tell them it’s time to get back to the table and negotiate.”

More news to come.

As was previously reported as a result of our job action, a meeting took place between the Deputy Minister of Advanced Education, PSEC representatives, CUPE, the FPSE representatives (Faculty), and BCGEU representatives. While this meeting did not result in a resolution to our current dispute, the frank discussions that took place at that table laid out clearly our demands to be treated the same as University Support Staff and that the current discriminatory treatment of our members by offering them less is unacceptable and we will not accept concessions.

Clearly the Ministry was shaken up by our collective actions. Remember that we were not alone on the picket line. The four members of the CUPE College Bargaining Committee” College of New Caledonia, College of the Rockies, North Island College, and Vancouver Island University were all behind Picket Lines with us at the same time. This strategy, to our credit, showed solidarity between the support staff at these institutions much as all of you did on our picket lines. This clearly demonstrated that we are organized and in this struggle together and we will not leave anyone behind.

The only information I can relay at this time in regards to negotiations is that they are not at a standstill and the situation is fluid and changing daily. I would like to be able to share more information with you. I hope that you will accept that bargaining under these conditions require us to hold our cards close and we are limited in what we can share at times. This difficult process is out of the realm of “free collective bargaining” and so the executives and bargaining committees of CCBC are in almost constant contact as we work to strategize together.

You can expect more “Creative Actions” soon as your Executive and Strike committees work to continue to place pressure on this government. Your presence on the picket line and the solidarity CUPE 2081 members have demonstrated over this past week has resulted in positive change. As we move ahead with strategic initiatives designed to keep the pressure on government, while balancing student, and member impact, we will also keep you informed of progress in negotiations when we can.

Once again, thank you all for your support, and solidarity. Without you the membership, we could not hope to negotiate a fair deal for all of us.

Remember: YOU ARE THE UNION!

In Solidarity,

Tony Nelson
Vice President/Strike Coordinator
CUPE 2081

Your bargaining team – Provincially and Locally – have met a number of times with the employer over the past two years and have been unable to achieve agreement.
The Provincial table - that includes representative from the Public Sector Employers Association (PSEA) folded a number of months ago; with the Employer unwilling to sign off on a Protocol agreement which is a document that outlines how bargaining will take place. They left the table stating they could not bargain with us as they did not have a mandate to do so.
PSEA representatives then joined the Local bargaining table. At the local table the employer could only offer an unofficial wage package and more concessions. Your bargaining team had tabled a settlement package that would basically see us withdraw all unagreed to items from the table and expand the mandate of 2 years to 4 years, with accepting the governments imposed 0-0 in the first two years.
The employer indicated again they had no mandate and could only offer unofficially a much lower settlement than what had been proposed across the province with similar sectors and other unions.
They also indicated they wanted to take a portion of our Accord monies which were negotiated in previous contracts as part of our compensation package. We could not agree to this as other groups who had this fund had been able to compensate with a full 1%.
We’re asking for respect, equity and fairness. Many of us provide the same work that University workers provide who were able to achieve the 0-0-2-2 settlement.
On November 10th, 2012 a major showing of solidarity from one of the biggest attended meetings we’ve ever had, produced a 96% vote in favour of strike. An explanation from A-Z on the last two years was given which resulted in members making their voices heard.
We want fairness! We want equity! and We want respect!

In solidarity,
On behalf of CUPE 2081
Louise Oetting
Chief Steward/Office Coordinator

BC College workers poised for Tuesday Strike

NANAIMO – CUPE staff at BC’s colleges are readying for strike action. Tentative plans call for an all-campus walkout starting on Tuesday, Nov. 20. Organizers say they are leaving the door open for the BC government to stop stalling and settle with the 3,000 CUPE support workers who have been without a contract for 2 ½ years .

The CUPE locals have taken strike votes and are serving 72-hour strike notices this week. Camosun, Vancouver Island University, College of New Caledonia, College of the Rockies and North Island College all expect to all be in a legal position to strike by the start of next week. Vancouver Community College has been carrying out job actions for more than two weeks and is planning another all-campus walkout on Monday.

At issue for the colleges is the BC government’s refusal to sign-off on new collective agreements. The last contract expired in 2010. All the CUPE college locals say they have a good relationship with their employer and that the stumbling block is the provincial government’s Public Employers Committee (PSEC) and Ministry of Advanced Education.

“We have been working closely with our employers to do everything in our power to settle this round of bargaining,” says CUPE’s BC Colleges Coordinator Ian McLean. “We have met and worked with those employers over the past two years and proposed settlements in line with all the other recent public sector contracts. We have worked with the assistance of a mediator to try to streamline the process. To date all of these efforts have failed because we are told by our employers that they don’t have a mandate to bargain from the government.”

“The only reason we don’t have a deal is because the BC Liberals have dropped the ball. We remain committed to negotiating a fair and reasonable contract, and our door is always open, but this government’s interference in collective bargaining has pushed us to the point where our only alternative is job action,” says McLean.

Other recent public sector wage settlements have been for four-year no-concessions deals with 0-0-2-2% wage increases.

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Contact:

Ian McLean CUPE BC Colleges Coordinator 250-753-0118
Murray Bush CUPE National Communications Representative 778-554-2234

CUPE BC College Contacts:

College of the Rockies Pam Catsirelis CUPE 2773 President 250-919-1040

College of New Caledonia Lilly Bachand Cupe 4951 President 250-565-4913

CamosunCollege Louise Oetting CUPE 2081 Chief Steward 250-812-2081

North Island
College Michelle Waite CUPE 3479 President 250-898-9166

Vancouver Island University Deborah Hopper CUPE 1858 President 250-741-7942

Vancouver Community College
Jo Hansen CUPE 4627 Chief Steward 778-881-4627

An amazing turn out on Remembrance Weekend. Today CUPE 2081 members gave a collective vote of solidarity. A meeting packed to standing room only resulted in an overwhelming show of support with a 96% strike vote.

The Local frustrated after almost two years of attempts to reach an agreement both Provincially and Locally have reached impasse with the employer.

It's clear that government is preventing "free collective bargaining" to take place. While many post secondary institutions in the University sector have reached tentative agreements on the government imposed 0-0-2-2 mandate, it seems Colleges are not considered to be seen as equals in the sharing of this mandate. In fact it seems the government has no interest in reaching a fair settlement with workers who have had no real increases in several years.

CUPE National Representative Ian Mclean stated, "After reaching an impasse at the Bargaining table, The members voted 96% in favor of a stike vote sending a strong message of "do the right thing" to the Employer and the BC Liberals."

Stay tuned for more information over the coming days.

CUPE workers pull out of talks at Camosun

VICTORIA – Contract talks have broken down between CUPE support workers at Camosun College and the provincial government. The union will take a strike vote on Saturday Nov. 10. The last contract at Camosun expired in 2010.

CUPE Local 2081 represents more than 600 maintenance, grounds, custodial, front line, clerical, secretarial, bookstore, library, instructional assistants, admin support, cafeteria, trades, sports and recreation staff at the college.

The union bargaining team says the employer is not the problem – the BC Liberals are. The union has met with the college more than a dozen times over the past two years but has made virtually no progress towards a settlement. They say the college’s hands have been tied by the government’s Public Sector Employers’ Council control over collective bargaining and the only option left is job action. If the strike mandate is passed by the union membership on Saturday, CUPE 2081 can serve 72-hour strike notice at the BC Labour Relations Board and then start legal job action.

CUPE 2081 Members will be asked to take a Strike Vote, Saturday, November 10th, 2012 at 10AM in Young Building Room 216.
Your Union is calling on you now to stand in solidarity with public sector workers across the Province and let the government know that we expect reasonable and fair bargaining.

VANCOUVER—Collective bargaining between BC’s colleges sector and 3,000 CUPE support and teaching staff has been going well, there’s just one hitch – the provincial government. And that hitch is pushing CUPE workers towards strike action.

Two and a half years after their last contract expired, local college employers and CUPE members are still waiting for the BC Liberals to give the institutions the go-ahead to negotiate new collective agreements.

The BC Liberals insisted that colleges provide a ‘savings plan’ for their approval. The Post Secondary Employers’ Association did that back in the summer, but are still waiting for approval. Similar savings plans in the BC universities sector were approved months ago and several CUPE university locals now have new tentative agreements.

As well as some local issues at individual institutions, the main focus is on a fair and reasonable wage increase. The colleges are negotiating for four-year deals retroactive to July 1, 2010.

CUPE’s BC Colleges Coordinator Ian McLean says, “the relationship between the union and the employer is not the problem here – political interference is.” McLean says that recent public sector settlements by the BCGEU and fellow CUPE university workers have set the pattern.

“We aren’t asking for anything that isn’t already out there,” says McLean, “we just want a fair and reasonable agreement. The employers know this – the problem is that the government has stalled the process. At this point, some of our locals are fed up and they are planning to take action.”

Both the College of the Rockies and Vancouver Community College are holding strike votes this Thursday. Vancouver Island University plans to hold a strike vote next Tuesday. If the strike votes are approved by the union membership, the locals can go ahead and serve 72-hour strike notice to launch job action. That can mean anything from an overtime ban to rotating picket lines and the withdrawal of services to a full blown campus-wide strike.

Other colleges still have bargaining dates. North Island College has bargaining scheduled on Nov. 2 and Nov. 5. Camosun has a session set for Nov. 6 and the College of New Caledonia meets Nov. 6-8.

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Contact:

Ian McLean, CUPE BC Colleges Coordinator: 250.816.2077
Murray Bush, CUPE National Communications Representative: 778.554.2234

CUPE 2081 Brothers and Sisters,

Your CUPE bargaining team has been struggling to negotiate with our employer and the Provincial Government for over two years.

The Provincial Government has made it clear from the outset that there was no money for salary increases and that no "monetary" items could be negotiated at our Local tables.

You may recall completing a survey two years ago before bargaining started to ask what your priorities were.

You, the members were clear in answering that survey and that you wanted your benefits to remain at current levels and your jobs to be secure.

A Joint Provincial negotiation table was created between the Post Secondary Employer's Association (PSEA) as well as support / operations staff from CUPE Colleges, BCGEU Colleges, the Faculty Association (FPSEA), and COPE to discuss the monetary items that could not be tabled and dealt with locally. After two years, there has been very little meaningful discussion.

Public Sector workers have made it clear we are no longer content to take "net zero" hits.

Inexplicably, in June the employer walked away from the Joint Provincial Table.

The government introduced its 2012, 2013 and possibly longer mandate calling for " cooperative gains". This mandate intends for us to trade off our hard won provisions of our existing collective agreement for salary increases after years of nothing. In plain language, to have more money on your pay cheque, it would mean taking a reduction on things like your benefits and/or other provisions like job security etc.

Your bargaining committee members are currently seeking local bargaining dates with our employer to discuss monetary items in the absence of the Joint Provincial Table. It is hoped that we can have meaningful dialogue with our employer and reach a negotiated settlement.

If we fail to set dates or have that constructive dialogue your union will be communicating the next steps to you via a mailout to your home.

It is important that your current contact information is up to date with the union office. As well your union will be seeking personal email addresses from those members willing to provide that information so that we may communicate electronically as well.

You can expect more communication on this important issue soon as your union will be seeking your direction on the next steps.

On behalf of your CUPE 2081 Bargaining Committee, Ed Nicholas ( Chair ); Myra Gypuik, Correspondence Secretary; Louise Oetting, Chief Steward; Tony Nelson, Vice President; and Jerry Oetting, President.

Following more than two years of protracted negotiations, the Post-Secondary Employers Association (PSEA) announced that it is abandoning the provincial templatetable negotiations, the college and Institute Support Staff Bargaining Association (CISSBA) said on Friday, April 13.

The employer group, which represents 9 of 19 college, institute and university employers, cited the potential impact of provincial templatetable negotiations on other local post secondary tables as a reason for walking away from the negotiations.

“We are disappointed that PSEA has decided to abandon the provincial template table negotiations,” says BCGEU President Darryl Walker. “Little has changed since we began coordinated negotiations with employers in 2010. We continue to believe that the provincial template table is the best way to reach a coordinated, fair and reasonable agreement in the post secondary sector.”

“The negotiations have progressed very slowly under the net zero mandate,” says CUPE BC President Barry O’Neill. “The employer had previously cancelled negotiation sessions, which has impeded progress at the bargaining table. But walking away from the provincial template table is unlikely to move negotiations along more quickly.”

In abandoning the provincial template table negotiations, PSEA has decided to move bargaining on monetary issues to the 19 individual local tables – further complicating the bargaining process and achieving little advantage.

CISSBA remains committed to work together toward a coordinated bargaining strategy, working with individual bargaining committees at local tables, and to encourage employers to return to Provincial Template Table negotiations.

The days and weeks ahead will show whether employers are committed to reaching a settlement. CISSBA will continue to seek input from members on options to move negotiations forward.

News that a provincial post-secondary education funding freeze will result in an effective cut to Camosun College’s operating budget of at least $1.5 million this year alone demonstrates that the BC Liberals are out of touch with the priorities of students and their families, CUPE 2081 said today. Camosun College administration has informed the union that the budget cut will require job losses.

“We're obviously very disappointed by the decision,” said CUPE 2081 Vice President Tony Nelson. “We’ve been saying for years that the provincial refusal to properly fund post-secondary education would result in lower quality education, but year after year the BC Liberals have refused to make the necessary investments. Now, after more than ten years of BC Liberal cuts to post-secondary education, colleges like Camosun are feeling the financial squeeze, and the kinds of cuts they're making are going to have a negative impact on the quality of education for students here.”

Nelson said that Camosun will find itself under the gun again next year, as the BC Liberal government has already announced its plan to freeze funding for two years.

“It's such a short-sighted approach, and it's making education worse, not better. The BC Liberals tell us every day how young people need education and skills to make it in the new economy, yet their Premier and government continue to cut back, and the College continues to pass those cuts down the line,” said Nelson.

“From a supposedly ‘business-friendly’ government, this policy of cutting funding for education at the same time as demand for skilled and educated workers is growing makes no sense,” said Nelson. “And for a premier who claims to put ‘families first’ it makes even less sense. This is the perfect time for an investment in post-secondary education. It’s clear that in tough times, public education funding can actually be an economic stimulus.”

CUPE 2081 represents almost 600 members at Camosun College, including the Camosun College Student Society Sub Local staff.

CUPE College's across BC have designed and developed a new communication website for College sector employees.
Please visit the site at http://bccolleges.cupe.ca/ and check out news and information. The CUPE Local 2081 video promoting the work we do is also available for viewing at this site.

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).

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,

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.