Posts published in “K-12 Bulletin”

K-12 locals across the province are in preparations for local bargaining. So, throughout March, CUPE Education is launching Mobilizing Mondays – every Monday of the month CUPE will be virtually hosting the Mobilizing for Bargaining workshop for K-12 locals.

In this online workshop, locals will learn to assess how well their members are engaged. The session covers building power by mobilizing members to build solidarity and support for the bargaining committee.

This is an excellent training opportunity for local mobilization committees. Registrations for these workshops are free of charge to CUPE locals. Locals are responsible for other associated costs (i.e., member book-offs).

The workshops will be held over Zoom in English every Monday in March, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Pacific Time.

K-12 locals will get priority registration, but please register for the preferred date as soon as possible. The deadline to register for the first session is March 4. More information on the workshops and registration is available in the links below.

Register TODAY for Mobilizing Monday!

Click here to register for March 7, 2022

Click here to register for March 14, 2022

Click here to register for March 21, 2022

Click here to register for March 28, 2022

If you’d like more information on the workshops, please contact Logan Lamerton at llamerton@cupe.ca.

If you need assistance with registration, please contact Darlene Wilson at dwilson@cupe.ca.

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Last week, the provincial health officer announced changes to public health orders. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has updated its guidance to the K-12 sector on the preventative measures needed to limit the spread of COVID in schools. As of February 18, some of the enhanced measures implemented earlier this year have been rescinded.

All schools and other learning environments can return to the preventative measures outlined in the Provincial COVID-19 Communicable Disease Guidelines for K-12 Settings. These are the preventative measures that were in place at the start of the school year. This means:

• School gatherings and events (i.e., assemblies) with students from the same school no longer have specific capacity limits.
• Indoor extracurricular activities should not exceed 50 percent capacity or 50 people (whichever is greater).
• Spectators are permitted for gatherings and events (e.g., performances, sports events) within capacity limits.
• Schools should not implement proof of vaccination requirements for school-led gatherings and events.
• Visitors are no longer limited to those supporting activities of direct benefit to student learning and wellbeing.

As a reminder, masks are still required for staff, students and visitors while indoors in schools and school buses.

Take-home COVID test expanding

The provincial government has announced that K-12 students will soon be supplied with take-home rapid antigen tests. In the coming weeks, each student will be given a five pack of the rapid tests for home use. No specific timeline has been announced yet, but the tests are expected to be distributed through schools in the coming weeks.

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The K-12 provincial bargaining committee met this week with their counterparts from the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association for another three days of discussions.

Talks continued on a wide range of topics during face-to-face, safely distanced meeting. Agreements were tentatively reached at the table on several non-monetary issues for a new provincial framework agreement.

Bargaining will resume with three more days of talks scheduled for March 1^st through to the 3^rd. The K-12 committee expects this to be a pivotal phase of bargaining and are planning to tackle our significant monetary proposals.

The K-12 committee remains committed to reaching a deal at the table. From the start of this round, the K-12 bargaining committee has been clear that the top priority for K-12 school support workers is the need for wage increases that recognize the vital role they play in our communities. A renewed provincial framework agreement will greatly depend on advancement on this issue.

Following this next bargaining session with BCPSEA, the bargaining committee will be meeting with the K-12 Presidents Council to either ratify a tentative agreement or to discuss strategies for next steps in the bargaining process. Members should watch for that bulletin at bcschools.cupe.ca, directly from your local, and on our social media – @cupek12bc.

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Bargaining for a new provincial framework agreement for K-12 school support workers began this week. The K-12 provincial bargaining committee met with their counterparts from the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association for three days of face-to-face, safely distanced discussions.

The K-12 bargaining committee tabled a comprehensive set of proposals, based on the priorities set out by K-12 locals and the provincial bargaining survey. In opening the talks, the committee had a clear message for what needs to be accomplished in this round bargaining.

“School support staff have done an exceptional job keeping our schools clean, healthy, and open for students during the pandemic, in particular for the children of emergency support workers, and vulnerable students,” says Paul Simpson, president of the K-12 Presidents Council and chair of the bargaining committee.  “But after two years, support staff are now exhausted and need meaningful solutions to their urgent issues. The top issue among them – the need for fair and reasonable wages that recognize the vital role school support workers play in our communities.”

The first meetings were very productive, with constructive and cooperative discussions on a wide range of issues. Both committees voiced a strong desire to reach an agreement at the table that will lay the groundwork for a successful local bargaining to follow across the province.

The bargaining committees will be meeting again next week for another three days, and then again March 1 – 3. The K-12 bargaining committee will be sending out regular bulletins as negotiations progress. Watch for them at bcschools.cupe.ca, directly from your local, and on our social media – @cupek12bc.

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After months of training, research, consultations and discussions, the K-12 sector provincial bargaining committee is confident it’s ready to start negotiations. This week, the K-12 Presidents Council gave its overwhelming endorsement to the bargaining committee’s proposals and priorities for a provincial framework agreement.

Guided by the results of the provincial bargaining survey, the top bargaining priority will be fair wages that recognize the expertise, experience, and dedication of the provinces over 30,000 school support workers.

The bargaining committee met for several days in January to review the provincial bargaining survey results and draft proposals to best address the concerns raised by members.

The message from the survey and input from K-12 local presidents is clear – school support workers need and deserve fair wages and supports to keep providing vital services to this province’s students, families, schools, and communities.

Contract talks for the Provincial Framework Agreement will begin on February 8 and continue until March 3.

The bargaining committee will open negotiations with the B.C. Public School Employers Association on February 8th, with nine days of negotiations scheduled between then and March 3rd.

The bargaining committee will be sending out regular bulletins as negotiations progress. Watch for them at bcschools.cupe.ca, directly from your local, and on our social media – @cupek12bc.

The K12 sector provincial bargaining committee includes elected representatives from each region. They are:

Paul Simpson, Chair

Metro:

Christina Forsyth
Daun Frederickson
Dave Bollen
Tammy Murphy
Warren Williams
Francine Brisson (alternate)

South Island:

Amber Leonard
Jane Massy
Paul Knapik (alternate)

North Island:

Denise Bullock
Jeff Virtanen
Andrew Schneider (alternate)

Fraser Valley:

Jason Franklin
Tracey O’Hara
Tracey Dahlin (alternate)

Okanagan:

Gray Boisvert
Tammy Carter
James Fox (alternate)

Kootenays:

Michelle Bennett
Pattie Pocha
Heather Skarbo (alternate)

North:

Jeanette Beauvillier
Monica Brady
Ken Evans (alternate)

Other support staff unions:

Haemant Sawh
Tim DeVivo

The committee will be assisted by a team of CUPE National staff.

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