You're receiving this as a BCGEU member working as support staff for either British Columbia Institute of Technology, Coast Mountain College, Douglas College, Justice Institute of BC, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Northern Lights College or Okanagan College. Please read in full.
Friends,
As you may know, our current collective agreements expire on June 30, 2025, and preparations to bargain our new collective agreements began in December 2024/January 2025 when you elected your unit's bargaining committee. We wish to thank all who participated and remind you that we all still have work to do to make this round a success. Specifically, you will need to:
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Complete the bargaining survey. This week, we will email you an online survey to learn about your priorities and ideas for this round of bargaining. It's critical you complete this survey, to ensure that the proposals we're preparing for the employer are grounded in your input.
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Sign up with the BCGEU Member Portal. Please forward this email to your coworkers who may not have received it and ask them to provide their current contact info at my.bcgeu.ca/login. We want to keep you informed, so it's critical we can reach you.
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Learn about the bargaining process. Read below to learn about the next stages of the bargaining process, and your role in each.
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Expect text messages. Organizing all our units for bargaining is a significant operation and requires many members and methods of communication, some of which may be unfamiliar to you. These members and texts will never ask you to provide your personal information, but they may ask you to follow links to surveys or petitions or to take other bargaining-related actions. If you are uncertain of a text's legitimacy, please contact your steward or bargaining committee.
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Get answers here to your questions about bargaining and the state of the post-secondary sector and the institutions for which we work. We will maintain this webpage of FAQs as we proceed in the bargaining process. Please relay your unanswered questions to your unit's bargaining committee or by responding to this email.
In solidarity,
BCGEU College and Institute Support Service Bargaining Association (CISSBA)
The bargaining process
Successful bargaining involves BCGEU members at every stage of the process, which can be categorized into four (potentially five*) stages:
1. Determining bargaining priorities (May 2025)
In this stage, your bargaining committee will send you a bargaining survey for you to complete. Your input helps develop bargaining proposals. Also, during this stage, your bargaining committee will serve the employer a Notice to Bargain (an email or letter that states our readiness to set meeting dates) and determine bargaining protocols (the rules by which our union and the employers will bargain).
Your role in determining bargaining priorities: Complete the bargaining survey, indicating your priorities and ideas for this round of bargaining.
2. At the bargaining table (potentially September 2025)
In this stage, your bargaining committee exchanges proposals with your employer. This is the beginning of negotiations. If an impasse looks possible, your bargaining committee will ask you to take collective actions to show the employer our collective strength and pressure them to settle.
Your role while at the bargaining table: Remain active! This means:
- Show up to union meetings
- Read emails from your bargaining committee
- Raise questions with your stewards, worksite contacts and bargaining committee
- Ensure you've provided correct and current contact info in the BCGEU Member Portal
- Respond to texts from fellow members asking you to take solidarity actions
- Take solidarity actions (like wearing a button, signing a petition, etc.)
3. Impasse: escalation and job action* (only applicable if an agreement can't be reached at the table)
During an impasse, your bargaining committee may ask you to take escalating actions to force settlement or mediation. This may include a strike vote. (A positive strike vote does not automatically mean a strike will happen. If a strike happens, BCGEU members on the picket line receive strike pay and other supports.) Your bargaining committee continues to negotiate with the employer until a tentative agreement is reached.
Your role during impasse: Take any actions your bargaining committee asks you to take, including a strike vote. Encourage your coworkers to do the same. Full participation by every BCGEU member at this time is critical to forcing settlement or mediation.
4. Voting on a tentative agreement (dates to be determined)
In this stage, your bargaining committee explains the tentative agreement to you and you vote on whether to accept it. A majority vote in favour of the tentative agreement means it is ratified. If the agreement is rejected, the bargaining committee goes back to negotiations.
Your role in voting on a tentative agreement: Attend a ratification meeting to understand the contents of the tentative agreement. Then vote.
5. Upholding the new agreement (dates to be determined)
Everyone (members and their bargaining committee, stewards and Occupational Health and Safety reps) works to ensure the employer upholds the terms agreed to in the new agreement until the next agreement is negotiated. Your bargaining committee will meet with the employer on a regular basis through Joint Labour Management (JLM) meetings.
Your role in upholding the new agreement: Regularly review the new collective agreement. Raise questions with your stewards or bargaining committee. Attend union meetings and discuss common issues. File grievances as needed.
UWU/MoveUP
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