Bargaining Bulletin #28

May 10, 2012

To: Heads Up – Vancouver and Okanagan
From: Lisa Castle, AVP, Human Resources
Cc: HR Advisors & Associates
Re: Bargaining Bulletin #28 – Collective Bargaining 2010/11 Update

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide you with an update on developments in collective bargaining at UBC. An overview of collective bargaining (including information on the bargaining units) is available at http://www.hr.ubc.ca/collective-bargaining/.

As you may recall from Bargaining Bulletin #27, the University attended the first mediation session with CUPE 2278 today under the auspices of the BC Labour Relations Board.  Unfortunately, the session ended abruptly.  The University has not yet received approval from the Provincial Government for the bargaining and savings plans submitted in order to proceed with bargaining under the 2012 Cooperative Gains mandate.  We are in the same position as many other public sector employers.  While we are expecting to receive approval at any time now, the Union was not prepared, in the absence of that approval, to proceed to discuss outstanding language issues or any of its opening monetary proposals that would result in a 130% increase in the cost of the Union’s agreement.   As a reminder, this new mandate does allow for modest compensation increases, provided the two years of the Net Zero mandate have been served and the employer has an approved plan for how it will fund the increases.

The mediator adjourned the rest of the day as well as the session scheduled for tomorrow, and will schedule dates once the approval is received.

Thank you for your interest.  We will continue to provide updates as the process unfolds.

Download this memo as PDF.