News & Announcements

Bargaining in the shadow of BC’s Public Sector Employers’ Council

Have you heard the news? BCGEU: The votes are in and nearly 95% of BCGEU’s public service members voted in favour of strike action, in their fight for a fair deal that includes #COLA! This is a big day for BC’s labour movement. Read on to learn more about why this matters and how important it is for Collective Bargaining. Union Power in BC has been suppressed for over 3 decades. BCGEU’s Strike Vote success is an important first step in achieving cost of living adjustments for us all! #COLA4ALL Bargaining in the shadow of BC’s Public Sector Employers’ Council Reproduced with permission from OCUFA & Annabree Fairweather under Creative Commons License | From the Fall 2020 Issue of Academic Matters For three decades, the wages, benefits, and language British Columbia’s faculty associations are able to negotiate have been restricted by the government. How do workers mobilize and challenge the PSEC…

Continue Reading Bargaining in the shadow of BC’s Public Sector Employers’ Council

The Confluence

Member Resources

Know Your Right of First Refusal

We recently won an important arbitration about your rights. It pertains to the first level of job security that term faculty members can obtain (right of first refusal—see article 1.02 (g) in the Local Agreement).  Right now, we need your help to monitor whether the College will honour this ruling. We don’t always know when members are having trouble exercising their rights. Please get in touch with us as soon as possible if you have recently applied for right of first refusal, or if you are thinking about applying. Also, if you have retained correspondence on right of first refusal from any point in your employment and would be willing to share that with us, we would be grateful. This is the essence of our dispute with the College–under the Collective Agreement, faculty members who receive term assignments can apply for “right of first refusal”: 1.02 (g)(i) Term Faculty Members…

Continue Reading Know Your Right of First Refusal

Getting Our Houses in Order

Deans may come and go, but for most of us, our department is our home.  That’s where our closest colleagues are, it’s where the most important discussions take place, and, if we are lucky, it’s where we find our best support.  It’s also where collegial governance begins. I want to encourage you to take charge of some key areas in your department.  If you organize these points yourselves, amongst faculty members, disputes with administration are much much less likely to arise, and when they do, you’ll have an important track record of decision making.  All it takes is democratic will. Please consider establishing minimum teaching qualifications for all your courses.  Most departments have done this informally.  However, a formal document that you keep on file and update from time to time is more useful. Are the qualifications the same for all your offerings, or do some courses require specializations? Is…

Continue Reading Getting Our Houses in Order