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College CUPE support staff ratify agreement
Agreements covering about 2,100 Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) support staff at five post-secondary institutions were today ratified under the province’s Shared Recovery Mandate, including College of the Rockies and CUPE Local 2773 support staff.
The agreements were reached as part of a CUPE support-staff template table that included the main compensation items and then required local bargaining to complete the bargaining process.
The CUPE support staff employees, including some students, work at five post-secondary institutions providing services in administration, facilities and technical support, food and beverage, library support and teaching assistance, the Ministry of Finance stated in a media release.
Key priorities of the 2022 mandate include:
* protecting the services that people in British Columbia depend on;
* improving health care and preparing for future needs and challenges; and
* supporting a strong economic recovery that includes everyone in B.C.
These negotiations are focused on providing a fair and reasonable offer to public-sector workers that includes significant inflation protection, while ensuring that government has the resources to continue to invest in building a stronger province for everyone, the ministry said.
The ratified agreement includes:
* a three-year term – April 1, 2022 until March 31, 2025;
* general wage increases;
* Year one – a flat increase of $0.25/hour, which provides a greater percentage increase for lower-paid employees, plus 3.24%;
* Year two – 5.5%, plus a confirmed cost-of-living adjustment to a maximum of 6.75% (maximum 6.75% triggered as of March 21, 2023);
* Year three – two per cent plus a potential cost-of-living adjustment to a maximum of three per cent;
* a negotiable flexibility allocation up to 0.25% in years one and two to support mutually beneficial outcomes for both parties.
Other achievements during this round of negotiations included Indigenous cultural leave at each institution, improved mental-health supports for employees, establishment of several sectoral committees in benefits, and gender-neutral job evaluation.
Currently, nearly 359,000 or 91% of provincial public-sector employees are covered by tentative or ratified agreements reached under B.C.’s Shared Recovery Mandate.
e-KNOW file photo
e-KNOW
