News
Read the latest news in BC post-secondary education.
Latest fiscal update shows BC Liberals’ economic policies in serious disarray
What happens when a government relentlessly cuts corporate tax rates? The public treasury ends up in the red. That’s part of what has happened in BC, but to hear Finance Minster Kevin Falcon talk about it, the obvious math seems strangely mysterious to the Minister. He searches far and wide to try and explain that…
Discrimination case reminds us all how much more needs to be done
For as long as there has been a women’s movement in Canada, there has been an active campaign to both highlight the ways in which women are discriminated and change the conditions that allow that discrimination to exist. The labour movement has played a major role in changing those conditions by using the power of…
Support Staff bargainers head back to local tables
BARGAINING UPDATE BURNABY- Kris Billy, your NVITEA (FPSE Local 19) representative, along with other members of the College and Institute Support Staff Bargaining Association (CISSBA), met with the Post-Secondary Employers’ Council (PSEA) on Tuesday April 19, 2011 to negotiate a set of common and important issues that affect all Support Staff employees. After some…
Many hands make the deal work: reflections on the VIUFA strike
When members of the Vancouver Island University Faculty Association voted 296 to 31 to accept the terms of a proposed memorandum that would settle their four week strike, the attention of those at the Bowen Park Auditorium was focused at the front of the room, and for good reason. The VIUFA Bargaining Committee had just…
Supporters Rally for VIU Picketers
“Faculty at Vancouver Island University are not alone in their fight for a better contract,” said Cindy Oliver, President of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators. “Over 10,000 faculty and staff who work and teach in BC’s public post-secondary education system are standing strong to support VIU faculty in their job action,” Oliver added. “When the…
Bargaining Stalemate Mobilizes Post-Secondary Educators
“At 17 locals across the province over 10,000 post-secondary educators are voicing their frustration with the current stalemate at local and provincial bargaining tables,” said Cindy Oliver, President of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators. “For more than a year we have been trying to negotiate a new deal for the college and university faculty and…
Status Quo Budget Plus Frustrated Bargaining Adds Problems to Post-Secondary Education
When Colin Hansen rose in the Legislature on February 15 to table his 2011 budget he emphasized that his fiscal plan was anchored to the “status quo”. Despite improvements in a number of revenue areas and hefty set-asides for “contingencies” that the Finance Minister could not fully explain, Mr. Hansen made it clear to everyone…
Equity on the job: The fair employment we all deserve
Where’s the sense in paying two people different rates for doing the same work? There isn’t any, and that’s the problem. The employer practice of picking and choosing who gets what pay for what work is one of the main reasons why people form and join unions. They want fair rules for setting the salaries…
COCAL IX Conference: building unity across many borders
“Contingent academic faculty across North America have a common goal: to build strength through a shared strategy of organizing and bargaining,” said Cindy Oliver, President of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators and one of the keynote presenters at this year’s International Conference of the Coalition of Contingent Academic Labour (COCAL). The event was held last…
Democracy in the cross-hairs…again
Voters in BC have had quite a year. Following the May 2009 provincial election, they were stunned to find out that an issue the BC Liberals had promised not to enact-the harmonizing of our provincial sales tax with the federal Goods and Services Tax-was suddenly a done deal. The announced about-face was made at a…