Following two months of intense bargaining with post-secondary education employers, the FPSE Provincial Bargaining Council is recommending members vote in favour of a new three-year deal.
“The proposed new agreement accomplishes two important things,” said Cindy Oliver, President of FPSE. “It aligns our collective agreements with the broader public sector, ensuring that we will be at the bargaining table with over 250,000 public sector workers in 2010 and it ensures that our provincial salary scale increases keep pace with the gains made in public sector bargaining that was completed in 2006,” said Oliver.
“Our negotiators worked hard to not only get improvements in the provincial salary scale, but also push back on concession demands at both the provincial and local tables,” Oliver added. “This proposed settlement continues to build on the strengths of our common agreement and positions us for further gains in the next round of bargaining,” Oliver said.
Highlights of the Proposed Settlement:
- A three year agreement expiring March 31, 2010
- A $4,000 signing bonus for full-time eligible faculty (pro-rata for those less than full-time) if Local agreements settled before March 31, 2007
- A 2.1% per year increase across the scale
- A top of scale salary increase of 2.9% per year. By April 1, 2009, top of scale will rise to $83,231
- A 2.1% lift to secondary scales
- Common Faculty PD funds (0.6%) will roll over each year, allowing unused funds to accumulate rather than be forfeited
- Administrative stipends increased 2.1%/year
Other proposed changes include:
- A Comprehensive Consultation Table with government, PSEA, BCGEU and FPSE to deal with wide range of system issues.
- A $50,000 fund to review existing benefit plans and identify cost savings and the re-allocation for priority benefits.
- The employers’ benefit consortium will fund an educational event for employer and union reps to examine disability issues such as duty to accommodate, psychological illness and culpable and non-culpable performance issues.
- Agreement to participate in a Pension Partners’ table to discuss Inflation Adjustment and H&W benefits for retirees.
- Increased benefit coverage for eyeglasses.
- An expanded definition of family for Compassionate Care leave.
- Employees on a parental leave given option to return to work on a graduated basis.
- At the end of the agreement access to fiscal dividend.
- Improvements to union leave rights for members of the NVIT Employees’ Association.
“The council carefully assessed the options before concluding that this was a proposal worth accepting,” said Oliver. “We know that the alternative to this proposal is to reject it and, ultimately, take job action. There are obvious risks in that approach. Members would lose the $4,000 bonus and would be walking a picket line.
The FPSE Bargaining Council believes the proposed settlement is a better alternative and gives us a better position to push for contract improvements in the next round of bargaining,” Oliver concluded .
How does the new grid affect your annual salary if you are full time? Find your current step. Follow the calculations across the table below. The figure on the far right will tell you the difference between your annual salary now, and your annual salary at the end of this contract including the effect of any increments you receive.
now
2007
At incr
2008
At incr date
2009
At incr date
Diff in
step 1
76480
78729
78729
80972
80972
83231
83231
6751
step 2
73257
74795
78729
80972
80972
83231
83231
9974
step 3
68238
69671
74795
76366
80972
83231
83231
14993
step 4
65445
66819
69671
71134
76366
77970
83231
17786
step 5
63048
64372
66819
68223
71134
72628
77970
14922
step 6
60651
61925
64372
65724
68223
69655
72628
11977
step 7
58254
59477
61925
63225
65724
67104
69655
11401
step 8
55857
57030
59477
60726
63225
64553
67104
11247
step 9
53460
54583
57030
58228
60726
62002
64553
11093
step 10
51063
52135
54583
55729
58228
59450
62002
10939
step 11
48666
49688
52135
53230
55729
56899
59450
10784
Apr-01
date
Apr-01
Apr-01
annual salary