Dear CUPE 4879 Members
We hope everyone is doing well. We are just checking in as we make our way through July and early summer.
Meeting Reminder: There are no general meetings in July or August. Your Executive will be meeting to do business on behalf of the membership throughout the summer and will be holding a budget meeting in mid-August to bring forward our annual budget at the September meeting.
Meet and Greet: Thank you so much for all who were able to attend the Executive Meet and Greet. The event was held at TRUSU’s Common Grounds. It was a great pleasure to see you all. Hope many of you are enjoying the coveted CUPE 4879 Ceramic mugs and those awesome Food truck coupons too! Approximately 70 people came through on their coffee break.
AVP People and Culture: It is welcome news that the new AVP of People and Culture, Shayne Olson will be joining TRU August 2nd. We are looking forward to working with him. However, the 4879 Executive was disappointed that CUPE was not invited to participate in any part of the hiring process or evaluation of the candidates. We have sent a letter to the TRU Executive expressing our disappointment on this issue and have attached for your info.
Bargaining: We will likely begin bargaining with the employer starting in September as the employer is still waiting to receive their mandate from the Provincial Government. The Public Sector Employers’ Council Secretariat (PSEC Secretariat), acts as a central agency, coordinates union and non-union compensation across the public sector through sectoral employers’ associations. TRU is part of the University Public Sector Employers Association (UPSEA). Generally the Provincial mandates in B.C. lay out the broad terms for collective bargaining, consistent across all sectors. They give direction to the employers on what they may or may not bargain particularly if there is a monetary value attached to a proposal. We are keeping a close eye on what is happening with sectors and Unions currently in bargaining and what they may be able to achieve or not regardless if they will take any work action.
A question was asked how would a strike by other Unions in the Public Sector affect our Local. The short answer is If they do have to take job action we would firstly and foremost ask our members to honor their picket lines as they would for us and whenever possible support those lines. If they are able to make gains as a result of job action or if they get back to the table prior to job action to get a deal that would likely affect the monetary mandate and bargaining for all sectors provincially.
Grievances: Several Grievances have been filed in the last month or so. The Grievances include seniority and promotion issues, higher capacity pay, excluded positions (Managers and Admin) doing CUPE bargaining work, contracting out issues, harassment, and denial of change of status. We are also working to find resolve on several outstanding grievances that were approved by the membership to move to arbitration.
We are offering a virtual lunch and learn on Tuesday July 12th from 12 to 1pm called “Grievance is not a Dirty Word” offered by Melissa Schuurman and assisted by Lois Rugg. If you are interested in attending RSVP to Melissa Schuurman at mschuurman@tru.ca for the teams meeting invite.
Summer Office Hours and how to contact us: We are trying to ensure that the CUPE 4879 office OM2782/84 will have regular office hours over the summer but we will notify the membership if there is any closure due to vacation leaves overlap or sick days. If no one is in the office, in case of emergency or most times you can reach Lois at 250.318.9919 (President’s Cell). Also Please see our contacts on our website https://4879.cupe.ca/contact-us/ to reach out to any of the executive or committee members. Cindy Ozouf, as 1st VP will be in charge when Lois may be away or not available. Here is link to our current Executive and Committees https://4879.cupe.ca/about-us/ . You can find our contact information via the TRU web search.
On behalf of the Executive we want to wish you a warm and pleasant summer. Hope you will get lots of rest, relaxation and well deserved days off to enjoy sun, fun and family/friends.
In Solidarity,
Lois Rugg, President
CUPE 4879