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Strike Vote at NEC Native Education College - BCGEU


The parties are far apart on monetary issues in bargaining so the bargaining committee has voted unanimously to take a strike vote.

The bargaining committee tabled a comprehensive package seeking to:

  • address chronically low wages across all classifications,
  • create a new "term" employee category with improved terms and conditions for the many employees - especially instructors - who work repeatedly as "casual" employees,
  • provide more non-contact time and office hours for the "casual" instructors who are undercompensated for marking, instructional prep and providing individual assistance to students,
  • have NEC pay the full extended health care plan premiums for employees with one to five years of employment, and
  • provide additional vacation for employees with more than 10 years of employment.

NEC's position is that it could provide a two per cent annual wage increase and essentially no more. Members were loud and clear at the worksite meeting in December: NEC's offer is not good enough. It would not close the general wage gap. It would also not fix the broken service model that relies too heavily on precariously employed "casual" employees to deliver a significant portion of instruction.

The bargaining committee knows NEC's resources are not limitless. Nevertheless, NEC must do more to secure additional or reallocate existing resources to be able to reach a fair and reasonable contract settlement.

In order to show NEC that members are motivated and united behind the bargaining committee, the committee encourages all members to vote "yes" for a strike. We are fighting for more than the Employer is offering, and the only way to get there is with a strong strike mandate to take back to the bargaining table.

Strike Vote Details

Date:                   Wednesday, January 29, 2020

                                              - and -

                           Thursday, January 30, 2020

Time:                  12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Location:            Room 103/104, NEC, 285 East 5th Ave, Vancouver

Note that a member only needs to attend one strike vote meeting, and can vote only once. As we do not know how many members will attend on either day, lunch is not being provided.

A copy of the formal notice of poll is attached.

Please speak with a worksite member of the bargaining committee if you have any questions or concerns.

In solidarity,

Sue Arnault, Bargaining Committee Chair
Pooran Qasimi, Bargaining Committee Member
Etovre Vese, Bargaining Committee Member
Ryan Stewart, Staff Representative, Negotiations

 

Download PDF of notice here
Download PDF of formal notice of poll here



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