After three days of bargaining, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) college support workers are one step closer to having a contract. Food service and facilities workers and library and clerical staff haven’t had a contract since 2010 and have stepped up labour action over the past few weeks to bring the government to the table to negotiate a deal.
A template for an agreement was agreed upon late Sunday night, December 2, by the College and Institutes Support Staff Bargaining Association and the provincial government’s Post Secondary Employers’ Association (PSEA).
“This is a significant milestone in the bargaining process, but there is more work to be done to conclude the local portion of the agreement that makes the settlement a complete package,” said Anita Bleick, CEO of PSEA, in a statement released Tuesday, December 4. “Unions will take this compensation framework back to their members and it will be voted on as part of a complete package once local talks finish.”
The framework is for a four-year deal with no wage increases in the first two years and increases spread over the final two years in line with recent other public sector agreements.
CUPE expects the agreement to be ratified by the end of the month.
“This progress is a direct result of our coordinated job actions,” said CUPE Local 1858 president Deborah Hopper.
Starting on November 20, Local 1858, which represents 260 Vancouver Island University support staff, was involved in a two-day job action at each of four campuses, including Powell River. In light of the tentative agreement no further job action will be taken.
