As you know, the work of our union is to advocate on the behalf of members. I want to share with you an example of how myself and BCGEU President Stephanie Smith advocated for one primary sector of our component – B.C. post-secondary education.

On March 31, we met with the new Minister of Advanced Education & Skills Training, Anne Kang, to introduce her to our union as a stakeholder in British Columbia's post-secondary education.

During this meeting, we explained to Minister Kang that our union represents almost 6,500 workers in the post-secondary education sector overall, including approximately 330 staff in various positions within the ministry and more than 6,000 in instructional or support positions and in student unions and associations at various B.C. institutions. 

(In case you're unaware, these worksites include BCIT, Camosun College, Coast Mountain College, Douglas College, JIBC, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Native Education College, Northern Lights College, Okanagan College, People's Law School, Selkirk College, UBC Okanagan, Vancouver Island University and student unions/associations at Kwantlen Polytechnic and UBC Okanagan.)

We informed Minister Kang that our members have been impacted by massive pandemic-related disruptions. We explicitly named your challenges: For support staff and instructors, this looked like increased workload due to the quick transition to remote work and online course delivery. For vocational instructors, this looked like continuing in-person teaching and student interaction under new pandemic protocols. No members received additional compensation or resources to adapt to these conditions.

We then made requests of the ministry: Establish a province-wide standard that institution-level planning for return to campus instruction in September include consultation with unions through local bargaining units and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) committees as well as robust communications plans that include meaningful feedback mechanisms for members who will be impacted by the transition.

Finally, we noted for Minister Kang that our union will be following up with the ministry in the coming weeks and months on the following ongoing labour relations issues:

• Underfunding of post-secondary operating budgets (we've encouraged the ministry to share its plans, especially considering the expected impact of the pandemic on international student enrolment and the importance of education and training to B.C.'s post-pandemic recovery)
• Fair and equitable compensation (standardized compensation/job evaluations and fair wages within the sector will be priorities for BCGEU members in the lead up to public service bargaining in 2022)

My hope is that this summary has offered you some insight to how your elected union representatives advocate on your behalf. The meeting with Minister Kang not only introduced a new minister to you and our union, it was also an investment in our collective relationship with government – the body who has the power to structure and fund the places we work and raise our families. 

Thank you for the opportunity to share this information with you. I will continue to keep you updated on our working relationship with Minister Kang and, if you have any questions, please respond to this email.

In solidarity,
Cindy Battersby
Vice President, BCGEU Component 7 (Education, Scientific, Technical and Administration)

UWU/MoveUP