June Update

It has now been a month since the mass layoff exercise performed by the current SFU administration and as mentioned in my May 27th message, our primary focus remains on supporting those who have been laid off. For those of us who have kept our jobs, there are still many unanswered questions and concerns, such as impacts on workloads, the seeming lack of EDI consideration in the process and the overall lack of accountability, transparency and meaningful consultation with the University. We endeavour for meaningful consultation and engagement with SFU on all matters, but this has been far more difficult than I had anticipated since becoming a volunteer for APSA – one such example of this being how the provost has not been made available to meet with us even once throughout the entirety of this process, despite the communications regarding layoffs coming directly from the provost’s office to all staff. It is important APSA member's voices are heard and we will continue to amplify them as best we can.

The conversations with the board series have seen particularly healthy attendances of late, which has been extremely valuable in exchanging information, providing clarity and supporting one another. One reoccurring pain point has been the lack of appreciation expressed by senior leadership in their communication to those laid off, recognising and thanking them for their years of dedicated service. Those who lost their jobs were apparently not afforded the dignity of any proper farewells and so APSA will be inviting those laid off to our member appreciation event on August 8th for all members – many of you have requested a return of APSA social events, and the APSA board is pleased to be getting these up and running again with this being the first (check out the newsletter item on this for further details). 

In other news: 

  • The mediator for our Basic Agreement negotiations has made recommendations to APSA and SFU to overcome the impasse in negotiations, and the board has approved these recommendations in full. The SFU Board of Governors now needs to approve them, and we will also send out a ratification vote to all members.
  • Our Treasurer, Jasper Stoodley, and the finance committee have been working hard on our new budget, which is now with the board for review and approval. It is important to us that your dues money is spent wisely and that we support not only those who need direct advocacy but all members too, particularly with regards to professional development which is one of the core purposes of our organization. We will also be producing a strategic plan so that we have a clear vision moving forward.
  • The Member Services Officer position is still yet to be filled, and we are continuing to take applications. If you know of anyone who may be ideal for this role, please encourage them to apply: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/3939274569/?refId=UTZkIbFgS5G4BDQ7Grld7A%3D%3D&trackingId=UTZkIbFgS5G4BDQ7Grld7A%3D%3D
  • We have been building our relationship with our counterpart organizations at UBC (AAPS) and UVic (PEA) on matters of mutual interest and will continue to do so. 

If you have any comments or suggestions that you’d like me to share with the board, please feel free to e-mail the following role account:president@apsacentral.ca

 
I hope you’re all able to get some vacation time this summer!

Thank you,

Ben