Friends, 

A reminder that the next member drop-in is scheduled for Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in the Main Office Seminar Room from 0900 hours to 1600 hours. If you couldn't attend on June 16^th this Wednesday is another opportunity for you to share your concerns, ask questions or make suggestions to a member of your bargaining committee. 
 
Thank you to everyone who completed the bargaining short form survey. We had a solid response rate that identified several shared issues. The member drop-ins are another opportunity to voice your concerns. It is our intention to use the results of the short form survey and member drop-ins to start drilling down to the issues that are most pressing to allow us to develop proposals that are reflective of the members' priorities. To that end, we intend to engage with you at each stage of the process using a variety of mechanisms such as continued member meetings, a long form bargaining survey, polls, and bulletins. 
 
It seems that incorporating Know Contract into our bulletins is timely as it seems your Employer has neglected its legal obligation to have distributed a copy of the collective agreement when it was first ratified and has continued to neglect its obligation to distribute the collective agreement to new members. Your steward will be raising this issue with the Employer but, in the interim, we will have copies of the collective agreement available this coming Wednesday. Please come by to pick up your copy. 
 
KNOW YOUR CONTRACT: OVERTIME IS VOLUNTARY 

Article 13.8, Assignment of Overtime 

"The University shall endeavour to keep overtime to a minimum and to meet requirements on a voluntary basis. Insofar as reasonably possible, overtime shall be divided equally among the employees in the centre who are willing and able to perform the available work within a reasonable time. In the event an employee who has been directed to work overtime demonstrates an urgent personal emergency, that employee shall be excused the necessity of working overtime on that occasion [emphasis added]."
 
Your Employer routinely and regularly asking you to work overtime, we believe is contrary to the collective agreement because we say the words "[I]n the event" in the final sentence of 13.8 have meaning. That it precedes the clear stipulation that overtime is "voluntary" we say means that only in abnormal circumstances should you be directed (told) to work overtime. If you are routinely and regularly directed to work overtime because your Employer has neglected to manage the workplace in a manner that ensures your contractual rights are observed, contact your steward. The provisions of Article 13.8 should not be used by your Employer to nullify the clear intention that overtime should first and foremost be voluntary. 
 
Related, we are hearing that members are routinely and regularly told to find their own auxiliary replacement when they are off sick, scheduled for vacation or on some other leave and also told to find auxiliary staff when a program is short staffed. That is the Employer's responsibility. 
 
Article 5.6, Licensing Standards, says in its opening paragraph that your Employer "… agrees to ensure that provincial Child Care Licensing Act regulation standards are met." The obligation on you is found in the second paragraph says you are "… to inform [your Employer] of any action or practice being carried out within the day care premise which [you] consider a breach of the Regulations." In summary, your obligation is to inform your Employer. Your Employer is required to ensure compliance. 
 
Should you be asked to find your own auxiliary replacement during personal time and you are ok with doing so, it is our recommendation that you make your agreement conditional on approval for overtime. 

If you know a BCGEU member who didn't receive this bulletin, please forward it to them. If you are a BCGEU member who didn't receive the bulletin directly, please update your email address with your Union by logging into the Member Portal here.
 
In solidarity,
 
Freyja Sankey, Chairperson, Bargaining Committee
Gail Gordon, Member, Bargaining Committee
Shannon Heighes, Member, Bargaining Committee
Zoe Towle, Negotiations Staff Representative

Download PDF of notice here