February Update

As public sector employees, our duty is, first and foremost, to the public. The abrupt closing of the Vancity Office of Community Engagement, the SFU Surrey TD Community Engagement Centre and the SFU Office of Community Engagement has deeply affected many of us, raising serious concerns about the long-term impact on vital initiatives, local relationships and the individuals who relied on these services. The loss of such highly experienced and respected staff also weakens our ability to serve the community effectively. If SFU is to uphold its values as an engaged, community-focused, comprehensive university, senior leadership must be held accountable when its choices undermine these core values. As the School for the Contemporary Arts aptly put it, ‘Some matters of value do not simply dissolve into the financial.’

One such initiative was the SFU Food Pantry, run by an APSA member, which provided food to up to 150 community members each week (APSA featured this important work in our February 2024 newsletter). With the issue of international students relying on food banks across Canada being so topical in recent years, and with SFU running a campaign specifically aimed at increasing international student enrolment, it is particularly troubling that more consideration was not given to this initiative before laying off the staff member who coordinates it. During the recent SFU Town Hall, I submitted a question asking senior leadership whether they would guarantee the continuation of this vital service. Sadly, they would not commit, so citing discussions is still needed. It is concerning that decisions on these valuable initiatives remain unresolved, even after the departments that facilitated them have already been eliminated.

Much important work is at risk or has already been lost, all of which would have deserved its own spotlight in future newsletters. It is important we recognise the APSA and CUPE staff members behind this work and to acknowledge their contributions to the community. The professionalism, humility and selflessness they demonstrated upon receiving such difficult news was truly admirable. While one could be forgiven for focusing on the immediate personal implications, their attention was instead on ensuring the preservation of the initiatives and relationships they had built, so the community could continue to benefit now that their roles have been deemed redundant by SFU.

On behalf of our membership, I also want to express my gratitude to our dedicated APSA staff, who are continuing to work diligently to maximise redundancy packages on an individualised basis. We have been putting in tremendous effort to encourage the University to take a more considerate approach to how layoff meetings are arranged and conducted. Unfortunately, despite our ongoing recommendations, we continue to encounter challenges in how these layoffs are being handled, including in terms of scheduling and notice. With only four staff members, when 10 people are laid off at once, we must rely on volunteers from our advocacy committee and board to ensure every individual receives the APSA representation they deserve. My sincere thanks to these volunteers for their emotional support and commitment to their colleagues, many of whom they’ve never met before.

Another area of concern raised at the recent SFU Town Hall was the enthusiastic response from senior leadership regarding the prospect of centralising IT and communications roles. To openly champion this idea in a public setting is insensitive to those staff members who were present and whose livelihoods would be directly impacted — centralisation is often synonymous with job losses. Such a move would also harm schools, programs and departments by limiting their ability to address specific technology needs, tailor communications to each unit’s unique requirements (such as knowing how best to reach out to their own students effectively and amplifying individual faculty member research) and ultimately reducing their agility and independence.

Our membership spans a diverse range of roles, yet we are united by our professionalism and commitment to serving students, faculty, and the broader community. APSA will continue to advocate for transparency, urging the University to protect the core values that make SFU unique and remember its fundamental purpose of being a public good. I encourage all of you to stay engaged, voice your concerns, and help ensure our collective advocacy is heard as we navigate these testing times together.

As you might suspect, the layoffs have taken up a significant amount of our time and resources this year, but our other updates and ongoing work are as follows:

  • APSA Layoffs: There have now been 65 APSA members laid off since November 2023.
  • APSA Investments: Following recent tariff threats from the US Government, we verified with our financial custodian that APSA holds only Canadian dollar GICs and has zero US-based investments.
  • APSA Winter Social: The event took place on Wednesday, January 15th, starting at 3 pm at The Study on Burnaby Campus. A huge thanks to Aicha Etrew from our Member Services Office for organising such a positive event! We’d love to hear your feedback and suggestions for future social events.
  • Coffee Conversations: Unfortunately, we had to cancel the Vancouver session scheduled for February 4th due to weather conditions, but it has been rescheduled for February 25th. The next Surrey event will take place on March 4th, followed by one in Burnaby on April 15th. We’re also exploring the possibility of offering our first remote session later this year.
  • AGM Motion to Investigate Unionisation: During the APSA board meeting on January 29th, this motion was discussed. Once we have more information, we’ll share it with you transparently. APSA is a democratic organisation, and we take motions from our members very seriously. Rest assured, our board is fully committed to addressing this matter pragmatically and with an open mind.
  • Strategic Plan, Policy Review, and Committee Terms of Reference: The board is actively working on developing a strategic plan, reviewing APSA’s policies, and creating terms of reference for all committees. This work will continue throughout the year, and the budget has been allocated accordingly. However, there have been no updates since my January newsletter on this front.
  • SFU Policy Reviews: On January 13th, APSA met with SFU to provide feedback on GP41 — Safe Disclosure of Wrongdoing Policy. SFU plans to review more policies in the coming months. You can find the full schedule here, and we encourage you to share any comments or questions you have. We will ensure they’re addressed in future consultation meetings.
  • Employee Joint Pension Committee (EJPC): APSA, CUPE, and Poly Party representatives met on January 16th to discuss matters related to our jointly held pension plan. We’re scheduled to meet again on February 13th and are considering a joint survey for all plan members.
  • Joint University Affairs Committee (JUAC): This committee negotiates several non-monetary AD-10 policies, amongst other items, with the University. Our team has been in regular discussions with SFU, and we will keep you updated on any specific developments.
  • APSA/SFU Liaison Meeting: We met with SFU Labour Relations and the VPPEI on January 20th for our monthly check-in. Given the imminent layoffs, APSA focused on HR processes and expressed our frustrations regarding specific aspects of the layoff meetings.
  • AAPS/PEA Meetings: Given our similarities with our counterpart organisations at UBC (AAPS) and UVic (PEA), I intend to establish regular meetings between the three groups so that we can share knowledge and liaise on matters of mutual concern.

To finish, I just want to say that I am sorry I am unable to provide you with a more optimistic message, but know that you should feel proud in your role and in the knowledge that your employment is an asset and not a burden to SFU and to BC.

If you have any comments or suggestions you’d like to share with the board, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at president@apsacentral.ca.

Cheers,

 

Ben