To Students at Langara College - About Bargaining
On behalf of CUPE 15, which represents 290 support staff at Langara College, I want to send students a message about our current bargaining.
Students, faculty and the community see CUPE members in our jobs every day. We work in the bookstore, in admissions, as instructional assistants and lab demonstrators, in student services and audio visual services. We also do many administrative and support jobs that are less visible, but just as critical in making Langara a great place to learn.
Our current Langara collective agreement expired over a year ago. We began bargaining in May 2010 and had 21 bargaining sessions with the employer before seeking mediation with the B.C. Labour Relations board in February. Following four days of mediation – where it became clear that the employer was not prepared to deal fairly with us, we sought an adjournment.
When CUPE members voted by an overwhelming 83 per cent in favour of taking strike action to back up the work of our bargaining committee on March 30, it reflected the very high frustration we feel from the lack of progress in negotiations and our strong disappointment with Langara College senior management.
Our members want a fair and respectful settlement that values the work we do each day in helping make Langara College one of the best post secondary institutions in British Columbia. And we want real and meaningful bargaining with our employer. We are getting neither in this round of bargaining.
There are many issues at the bargaining table. The union has proposed a number of improvements like better access to professional development and training and new approaches to managing heavy workloads. These should be areas where we can find agreement, but the employer says no. And the employer has proposed a very serious concession that would take away employees’ ability to have an uninterrupted vacation. We cannot agree to new requirements that employees are on call 365 days a year, 24 hours of the day – and with no additional compensation.
CUPE 15 will be doing everything possible to get back to the bargaining table in order to reach a settlement and prevent job action. We have spoken to the College Board. We have written to the B.C. Minister of Advanced Education. We believe that we can achieve a negotiated agreement if the College and the provincial government set their mind to it.
We value the students and the community that supports Langara. We commit to keeping you informed about what we are doing. Our members most want to find an agreement that allows us to do our best for your education.
Yours truly,
Paul Faoro
President
copy: Langara Bargaining Committee
bas.CEP L467-UW
