Legislative Update – Election Edition

October 27, 2020

Although nearly 500,000 ballots have yet to be counted, the BCNDP was declared to have won a majority government. This will be the first NDP majority government in British Columbia since 1996. It is also the first time an NDP Premier was re-elected in BC history. So far, John Horgan’s BC NDP gained 14 new seats in the legislature and received 45% of the popular vote, an increase from 40% in the 2017 election.

Andrew Wilkinson, leader of the BC Liberals, announced that he is resigning as leader, but will stay on until a new leader is chosen.

BC NDP Election Platform 

The full BC NDP platform and be found here. Some campaign promises of particular interest to CUPE members include:

• Worker Rights: Ensure that every worker has the right to join a union through a strategy developed in partnership with labour and business. Further improvements to WorkSafeBC and increased safety inspections at work sites.
• Human Rights and Pay Equity: Continue to address systemic discrimination in the workplace and move closer to equal pay for equal work through new pay transparency legislation.
• K-12: Continue to make classrooms safer through the installation of new ventilation systems, plexiglass barriers in key areas of the school, comprehensive cleaning stations, and by ensuring more cleaning hours in all schools. Invest in more training for staff, and in new ways to improve social e-learning that promotes group interactions between students and teachers.
• Post-Secondary: Create new early childhood education and tech relevant spaces in public post-secondary institutions and reduce barriers to access post-secondary education.
• Healthcare: Unprecedented expansions and improvements in our public healthcare system.
• Childcare: Expand universal $10 a day childcare, enshrine universal childcare in law, continue to expand childcare in the province, work toward providing universal access to before and afterschool care on school grounds, expand the successful ECE wage enhancement program and move responsibility for childcare to the Ministry of Education.
• Trades: Restore the compulsory trade system to improve safety and give more workers access to apprenticeships to develop their skills for the work ahead.

Tentative Results

• Preliminary Seat Count: NDP 55, Liberals 29, Greens 3
• A majority government needs 44 seats, so the BC NDP have a comfortable margin regardless of the mail-in ballots. Also, since polls indicated that the NDP was leading for the mail-in ballots, it’s more likely that their vote will only increase.
• There are eight ridings that are very close and could change with the mail-in ballots:

• • Abbotsford-Mission – Liberal Simon Gibson is leading by 188 votes.
  • Richmond-South Centre – NDP Henry Yao is up by 124 votes.
  • Vernon-Monashee – Liberal Eric Foster is ahead by 180 votes.
  • Chilliwack-Kent – NDP Kelli Paddon is up 195 votes over Laurie Throness.
  • Fraser-Nicola – Liberal Jackie Tegart leads by 385 votes.
  • Richmond–Steveston – NDP Kelly Greene is leading with 596 more votes.
  • Vancouver-Langara – Liberal Michael Lee is up 647 votes.
  • Surrey-White Rock – Liberal Trevor Halford currently has 729 votes more than NDP candidate and CUPE member Bryn Smith.

• There are another nine ridings where the margin of victory is about 1000 votes or less, but it is unlikely that these will change hands. The NDP is leading in five of these ridings, the Liberals in three and the Greens in one.

CUPE Candidates

• CUPE member Lisa Beare and former Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Local 4078) was re-elected in her riding of Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows.
• CUPE National Representative Rachna Singh was declared re-elected in Surrey-Green Timbers.
• CUPE member Dan Coulter (Local 3787) broke through to be elected in Chilliwack.
• HEU Secretary – Business Manager Jennifer Whiteside was elected in New Westminster.
• As mentioned above, CUPE member Bryn Smith (Local 728) still has a chance in Surrey-White Rock.
• Unfortunately, CUPE members Sylvia Lindgren (Local 523) in Shuswap and Cory Longley (Local 2043) in Peace River South were not successful.

 Mail-in Ballot Count

• The final count of mail-in ballots will begin on November 6, as is required under the Elections Act, and Elections BC is hoping to have the final results by November 16.
• We will find out on November 5 how many certified mail-in ballots were received per district. Currently we only know how many were requested (724,279) and that roughly 478,000 were received back. By contrast, in the 2017 provincial election, approximately 6,500 votes were cast by mail.
• Absentee ballots will also be counted at this time, and Elections BC expects about 20,000 of these.

 In solidarity,

Justin Schmid
CUPE Legislative Coordinator – BC Region

CUPE 2081 reusable cloth masks are now available for CUPE members!

There is one free mask available for each CUPE 2081 member, for use at work or at home. To collect your mask, please be mindful of the following:

• Our president Keith Todd will be able to deliver on campus or be available for you to pick up from the CUPE office. Please email him at todd@camosun.bc.ca and let him know which campus you are on.
  Interurban – Keith is available Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays for deliveries around Interurban
  Lansdowne – Available Wednesdays and Thursdays for pick up at the Y244 CUPE office at Lansdowne
• If you would like to pick up a batch for your CUPE colleagues/department, please be sure to include the names of everyone you are picking up for as we have a limit of one mask per member
• If you (or a colleague on your behalf) are unable to pick up a mask in person, but you would like one, please email wilkinsonj@camosun.bc.ca or todd@camosun.bc.ca to let us know

SPECS: These are Union-made soft cotton/poly blend, 2-ply non-medical masks. One size fits most.
Constructed from ethically imported materials, and are all black (with white logo).
Anti-microbial inner cotton layer, with a water resistant outer layer and elastic ear loops.

Claim yours today!

MPP REDESIGN – INFORMATIONAL WEBINAR INVITATION

On behalf of CUPE BC

CUPE BC will be hosting a series of information webinars for CUPE members on the Plan Partners BC Municipal Pension Plan Redesign changes. This is an open invitation to CUPE members, with dates listed and registration links listed below.

Each webinar will be one hour in length with presentations by CUPE National staff, and will provide members with an overview of key changes followed by a Q&A period.  These webinars do not replace the current consultation process being conducted by the Plan Partners, but are to provide CUPE members with further opportunities to learn about the changes. For full details of the Plan Partners MPP Redesign, please visit https://www.mppredesign.ca to ask questions or provide feedback on the changes using the “Ask a Question” feature.  Once again, these sessions are for general information and members seeking specific advice on their retirement planning should consult directly with a personal financial advisor.  

Please use the links below to register for a session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

DATES:

Thursday, October 22, 2020 | 5:00-6:00 pm
Registration: click here
For members in the Colleges & Universities sectors only

Tuesday, October 27, 2020 | 5:00-6:00 pm
Registration: click here
All members welcome

Thursday, October 29, 2020| 5:00-6:00 pm
Registration: click here 
All members welcome

Tuesday, November 3, 2020| 5:00-6:00 pm
Registration: click here 
All members welcome

We will be holding a CUPE 2081 General Membership Meeting tonight!

When: Wednesday, Oct. 7th – 5:00-6:00pm
Where: via Zoom (please refer to the CUPE 2081 email that went out containing the link)
*Note that our Zoom subscription holds a max of 100 people at a time in a Zoom meeting. The first 100 people in will be on the call – please make sure to mute your mics.
Please email cupe2081@camosun.bc.ca if you require the link again.

Please click on the links below to review the agenda, notes, and executive reports for the upcoming meeting.

Oct. 7, 2020 – Agenda
Oct. 7, 2020 – Notes re: Motions

2020 Summer Update Report – Alesha Peters – Member at Large
2020 Summer Update Report – April Atkins – Occupational Health & Safety Coordinator
2020 Summer Update Report – Erynne Grant – Labour Relations Officer
2020 Summer Update Report – Jayme Wilkinson – Communications Officer
2020 Summer Update Report – Jesse Scott – Lansdowne Campus Shop Steward
2020 Summer Update Report – Joanne Cumberland – Board Rep
2020 Summer Update Report – Keith Todd – President
2020 Summer Update Report – Milo Anstey – JAJEC Coordinator
2020 Summer Update Report – Naji Yazdi – Interurban Campus Shop Steward
2020 Summer Update Report – Shelley Butler – Education Coordinator
2020 Summer Update Report – Shirley Wendland – Member At Large

Hoping to “see” you tonight!

An open letter sent by Vancouver Island faculty and Union leaders (including Keith!) alike has been published in Saanich News as of Friday, September 11th. The letter aims to highlight the need for greater funding into post-secondary as part of a pandemic recovery plan for our communities.

“The pandemic provides an opportunity to invest in the people of British Columbia and build a stronger, more diversified, and more resilient economy. How can we build this economy? By creating educational and employment opportunities for people in our communities who have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. One of the key ways that the provincial government can help these people will be through major and targeted investments in post-secondary education.”

Please read the full article here: Letter: Invest in higher education to help island communities recover from COVID-19

A Scholar Strike for Black Lives in Canada is taking place on Sept 9^th & 10^th, 2020.  For these two days, organizers are encouraging academics and all university/education workers to pause teaching and all administrative duties.  They have used this time to organize public digital teach-ins on police brutality and violence in our communities from both historical and contemporary perspectives that are available to everyone.

Scholar Strike organizers recognize the precarious labour status of workers in Canada, and they invite university workers to participate in this labour action as much as they are able to engage.  They understand that some will not be able to participate fully, but there are many ways to engage with this protest, from amplifying the message on social media to using the digital public teach-ins during class time.

Acknowledging that Canada’s university and college campuses stand on the ancestral and traditional territories of Indigenous peoples, they are making these calls to action in the spirit of our collective commitment to work towards liberating Black, Indigenous and transnational frameworks and knowledges, while actively working for a liberated global future.

Please visit the website for more detailed information, program summary, and ways you can get involved: www.scholarstrikecanada.ca
Please visit the Facebook event page for listing of available digital teachings/classes: Facebook event here.

On behalf of CUPE BC, we would like to share some upcoming virtual events – for Labour Day, and beyond! Are you a baseball fan? Then you will want to check out the solidarity appeal at the bottom!

UPCOMING VIRTUAL LABOUR DAY EVENTS

Victoria Labour Council – Forward Together Campaign Launch | Sept 7, 2020

Date: Sept 7, 2020
Time: 1:00pm
Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/443954273230231

 VDLC & NWDLC Labour Day “Elsies” | Sept 7, 2020

Please join the Vancouver and District Labour Council (VDLC) and New Westminster and District Labour Council (NWDLC) for their first-ever “Elsie” (Labour Council) Award event in recognition of outstanding union members from across the Metro Vancouver region.  Further information can be found in the attached poster and on the VDLC website (click here).

Date: September 7, 2020
Time: 9:00-10:00am
Event Link: TBA (check here)

Fraser Valley Labour Council | Labour Day Online | Sept 7, 2020

Join the Fraser Valley Labour Council (FVLC) on Facebook Live for an online Labour Day acknowledgement featuring sponsored prize giveaways.  Members residing in the Fraser Valley can also enter to win one of five $100 Grocery Store gift cards (click here for contest details). The FVLC Executive will choose the winners based on the best “Why is Labour Day important to you” response.

Date: September 7, 2020
Time: 12:00-1:00pm
RSVP Link: click here

… Read more…

CUPE has compiled a list of different income supports that are available to you during the Coronavirus pandemic, situation dependent. This is general information – for specific details related to sick time please refer to CUPE 2081’s Collective Agreement, visit the Camosun College website, or email us at cupe2081@camosun.ca!

What is your situation?

• I am an employee with COVID-19 and/or in isolation
• I am an employee caring for a family member who is sick with COVID-19
• I am an employee who needs to stay home from work in order to provide care for my children due to school closures
• I am an employee whose employer has closed and/or limited service or production (permanently or temporarily)
• I am a permanent employee whose employer has reduced production/hours due to the economic situation or public health concerns
• I am a temporary employee whose employer has reduced production/hours due to the economic situation or public health concerns
• I am a seasonal worker whose employer has indicated they will not be calling me back for work due to the economic situation or public health concerns.
• I am a student who has been laid off/cannot find work because of the economic situation/public health concerns.
• I have already applied for Employment Insurance sick leave or regular benefits
• Other income supports available to all Canadians

Please scroll down to see answers in order.

… Read more…

Did you miss the Summer Edition of Counterpoint, CUPE’s quarterly publication on news on issues important to our members? Check it out below:

Counterpoint: Summer 2020 Special COVID Edition

All current employees at the date of ratification have had their retro pay calculated and the deposit will be made on next week’s payday: Friday, August 14th.
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank-you to those in Finance and other departments who have done the extra work required to have this completed quickly for our members!

Previous employees who were no longer employed by the College as of the date of ratification and have applied or are applying, will have their applications reviewed and processed once the application deadline has passed on August 25th, 2020.

Who is required to apply for retro pay?

Any former employees who worked for Camosun College and were part of the CUPE bargaining unit between July 1, 2019 and June 1, 2020 need to apply to Camosun College by August 25, 2020 in order to be eligible and receive the increased amount as retroactive pay.  If you were a former employee whom this applies to, please follow the link provided directly below to submit your application for retroactive pay:

Link: CUPE Retro Pay Application Form
*Please note the application deadline is Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Once you have submitted the application form, the Camosun Finance Payroll team will be reviewing the details of your application to determine eligibility and, if eligible, calculating the amount of retro pay due to you. A reminder that this calculation is complex and will take time to verify and calculate for eligible former CUPE employees. The estimated completion of payments is the end of September 2020; however, as a result of the complexity of this calculation and the unknown number of eligible applicants, the date of when this will be completed cannot be confirmed with certainty. Please note that you will receive an email when your application has been processed for payment.

• Members on regular recurring lay off do NOT need to apply — you are still considered employed.
• Members on leaves of absence do NOT need to apply — you are still considered employed.

As always, if you have any questions, please email cupe2081@camosun.ca if you have any questions!