Each month, the Advocacy Committee answers your questions about the AD 10 policies (aka, your terms and conditions of employment.)
Hello, I’m Tracey Ferris, APSA’s Members Services Coordinator and an advocate on our Advocacy Committee. I’m answering your questions related to our AD 10 policies. Questions? Submit them anonymously here. These questions will be answered in a monthly issue of advocacy corner. For an immediate response, please contact us.
If I remember correctly, our current contract expired on July 1, 2022. Given that salary negotiations are only just about to get to the table, when can we expect a result? Being so far behind our contracts is costing us — will we ever be in a position to have a new contract BEFORE it starts?
I understand your frustration with not getting a new contract and your general wage increase (GWI) outlined by PSEC, especially with the current financial climate. The University and APSA can mutually agree to bargain before the contract ends, but both usually wait for the PSEC mandate and the outcome of BCGEU bargaining. Most unions in BC also wait for the result of BCGEU bargaining, so that they have solid outcomes to point to when they table their own proposals.
If we were to negotiate before the PSEC mandate came out, we might settle for less than other public sector employees province-wide.
APSA’s negotiations are unique as we have a 30-day round of bargaining with an impasse resolution mechanism of final offer selection arbitration. Our bargaining is designed to take less time compared to traditional union bargaining. Lastly, if you look at other employee groups on campus, as of May 17, 2023, no employee group has settled bargaining and received their GWI or other benefit improvements.
The Salary and Benefits committee has focused on returning to the table as soon as possible and has given formal notice to begin to bargain in July of this year.
My concern is about bullying and harassment. I’ve been keeping a log of activities involving my supervisor’s supervisor bullying me. I want to report it, but I’m not sure what can be done and struggle to see how reporting it or having it investigated would help. I’m not in a role where I can only report to my supervisor or anything like that. I’ll continue to report to both on a regular basis.
Thank you for noting your serious concerns here. It would be very helpful if we had further information to present to you a list of viable options for your situation. We’d be happy to have a confidential meeting with you as soon as possible.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact APSA. Your call or email is confidential.