Burnaby Civic Employees Union
Any one who is interested in learning about equity and human rights issues and those interested in participating in the Equity and Human Rights Committee are invited to attend this pizza forum!
When: Saturday, March 12, 2016 @ 10:00 AM
Where: The Union Hall 114-4940 Canada Way
Email: admin@cupe23.ca
The next General Membership meeting is our Annual General Meeting and will be held on
October 19, 2016 at 5:30 PM.
New members, please arrive at 5:15 PM for registration.
Pizza and pop will be served at 5:00 PM.
**Please note that there will be a vote on the Constitutional Amendments at this meeting. For more information on these amendments, please see the Members’ Only page.
Please contact the Union Office for your password if needed.
admin@cupe23.ca
Please check the Education page for more information on upcoming courses, such as, the CUPE Metro Union Education Conference, the 2016 Spring Weeklong School and the updated 2016 BC Fed Occupational Health & Safety courses.
Happy New Year!
We received welcome news on New Year’s Eve. Arbitrator Mr. John Hall released his decision on the grievance which we filed over the vacation pro-rating language. Although it took us a long time to get to hearing, it was worth it. We have been able to correct an injustice done to members of the Local during the last round of bargaining. In his decision, Arbitrator Hall ruled that the vacation pro-rating language was contrary to the Human Rights Code as it discriminated against workers who were disabled.
The arbitrator also upheld the grievance which we filed on the pro-rating of vacation pay for those members who take maternity or parental leave. He determined that it was discriminatory on the basis of sex and family status grounds.
As of December 31, 2015, the offending language will no longer apply. He has referred the matter of remedy back to the parties to negotiate. We will be meeting with the City to begin those discussions. Our position is clear. We want everyone who was affected to be compensated.
As part of his decision, Arbitrator Hall also ruled that vacation entitlement for City employees is a status benefit based on continuous employment or length of service and is not an earned benefit. This upholds the position which we have always taken with regard to vacations.
To read the entire decision, please follow this link.
Sisters and Brothers,
As you’re more than aware, one of the more difficult challenges of our lives is finding a balance between our work, our families and dealing with care-giving issues. It’s not easy to do and often we find ourselves making sacrifices and hard choices. This creates 
tension and conflict both at work and at home and results in un-needed stress with its emotional and physical consequences.
If we can make changes to our working lives which will result in an ability to manage these challenges more easily and reduce the stress they produce then we need to do so. CUPE is embarking on a national survey of our members to gather information which can then be used to raise awareness of the issues, develop policies and design contract language which will benefit us all as we try to find ways to deal with care-giving and work/life balance.
Please take a few minutes and fill out the survey.
Thanks,
Simon.
