CUPE 5101 Welcome back Appreciation Barbeque

Our first week of work back is now completed, I hope everyone had a great start back to the school year.

The CUPE 5101 Executive would like to welcome you back to the new school year with an appreciation barbeque that we will be holding for all CUPE 5101 members only. This will be taking place on Wednesday September 18th, 2024 from 3:30 – 5:30pm. It will be taking place outside of the school board office on the grass area in the front. Please make sure to drop by and say hi, mingle and have some food and catch up with all of your 5101 members. Come and join us right after you get off work! We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Welcome back to another school year!

Welcome back!

We hope you had a restful and enjoyable summer break! As we transition back into our regular routines, the CUPE Executive team would like to extend a warm welcome back to each of you.

Your dedication and hard work are what help the schools run in our district, and we are excited to embark on another productive and successful year together. As always, we remain committed to supporting you in every way possible, ensuring that your voices are heard and your needs are met.

Let’s make this year one of growth, collaboration, and success. Together, we can continue to achieve great things!

Welcome back, and here’s to a fantastic year ahead!

In solidarity,

CUPE Executive Team

 

CUPE National Convention Executive Reports – Quebec 2023

The week of October 23rd I attended my second CUPE National Convention with myself and four other CUPE 5101 executive. The convention was held in Quebec City, excited to go to a city that I have never been to. Throughout the week we participated in some CUPE National Convention business by debating resolutions that were put forward, the longer work days while away allowed us to conduct more business working from 9am to 6pm. While at convention we also had time to participate in a Union rally at the Parliament of Quebec, the rally being for all of the CUPE Unions on strike currently in Quebec. In our spare time we also had time for some sightseeing of local attractions, lots to see as Quebec has so much history.

This year’s National Convention was very interesting as I had a different take on this National compared to when I went to National in Montreal. The different take I had is in my new role as a Local President. As local president’s we are very engaged on the outcomes of a lot of things and what we can take back to our locals.

As I write this, we are still on the plane coming home, but looking forward to getting back home. It was a great convention and I look forward to the next convention.

Adam Clutchey

CUPE 5101 President

 

Quebec City, my first national convention, was an educational and informative experience as to the management and inner processes of Canada’s largest union. Currently membership is 740,000 members which means a lot of different locals in many different sectors . As a result there was a lot of different concerns and issues depending on the sector and the location of the local. Although I am not always onside with all of these concerns and political narratives I found the discussions lively and informative and appreciated the various voices and storylines there in.

Our hotel was located between 1 and 2 km’s away from the convention centre so we had a 20 to 25 minute walk, both to and fro and predominantly uphill in the morning. So on Monday morning I had a bit of a wake up call as to my current fitness level. The good news for me was that by Friday I was able to make it to the convention centre with far greater ease and so that was a very pertinent example as to how quickly one can start to improve their fitness level and also how beneficial stairs are in that process. Quebec City, being one of Canada’s most historic cities allowed us to do some exploring into the “old City” which dates back to the early 1600’s. The weather was good for the most part and all in all it was a great experience and I appreciated the opportunity to see how a national convention runs and the chance to see another region of this vast country

Scott Michell

Vice President

National was very informative, it showed the current state of the Union, where we have been and where we are going. For instance, we are now the largest union in Canada, 740 000 000 strong and growing. Airlines are now joining us as well as hotels and more. Our union has become very divers and multicultural. We are also supporting our young workers now more than ever! I am on the CUPE BC Indigenous committee, and a young worker will be shadowing us to see how wework as a committee. I also learned about resolutions and how to write them. I also learned about how the elections work at the

National level. It was a valuable experience, and I am so thankful to have been able to go. Huy ch q’u Kleeco Kleeco, Marci, Thank you.

 

Kerra Michel Member Ship Officer (new name)

 

Over the course of 5 days we were able to discuss needs within our union sectors and our regional areas

as well as learn about different solutions that have been implemented. Some of those workers were the

Ontario K-12 staff that participated in the strike made illegal by Bill 28 which can legislate a contract

onto workers while making it illegal to take job action to secure an equitable contract. They were so

grateful for the National Executives who flew out immediately to be there walking the picket lines with

them and to know that CUPE National would be there for them while they fight for workers rights. We

were able to contribute to the strategic plan that directs the National Executive Board by guiding the

direction their work will go for the next 2 years. Some of these directions include helping locals with

negotiating collective agreement language to protect understaffing through the National Reps support.

Another was to provide more job evaluation and classification training to locals. This committee and the

training for it will improve our strength during bargaining. It is in place to have objective evaluation of

jobs to ensure review of changes that happen in our jobs and that there is fair compensation for the

work being done. I would encourage people to read more about this process and participate in these

surveys as well as consider putting your name forward for involvement in this or another committee in

the future.

In Solidarity,

Katie Robertson

Treasurer

Economics Course Video Links – Fun Facts!

Back in June I got sent these links from an Economics Course that someone took. Sharing them with you for some end of the summer viewing. Any troubles viewing them, just copy and paste the links into a browser.

Extended Health Provincial Standardized Plan Update

Please find below a joint memo from BCPSEA and CUPE regarding improvements to the Unionized Support Staff Provincial Standardized Extended Health Plan (Standard Plan), including minimum levels of dental coverage which will be put in place July 1, 2023.

Also included below is a plan comparison for your reference, showing the Standard Plan improvements on the right and the current plan on the left.

Memo – Extended Health Provincial Standardized Plan Update – 2023 (1)

Provincial Standardized Plan Improvement Summary

Special meeting

A reminder about the Special meeting for all members taking place this Thursday Oct 20th @4:45pm in the Quamichan Multi-purpose room. Bargaining Proposals will be presented. See everyone there!

May 5th – National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Please help us recognize May 5th as it’s The National Day of Awareness for MMIW also known as Red Dress Day. This is a commemoration day for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two Spirit and Non-Binary people.
We invite you to wear RED, as many Indigenous nations believe that Red is the only colour spirits see. For more information about how The Red Dress Project started, check out artist Jaime Black https://www.jaimeblackartist.com/exhibitions/