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News Updates

Please note that all news updates from CUPE National, CUPE BC, BCPSEA etc. are located under the tab “News”.

Weekly President's Message

Updated September 8, 2021

Welcome back,

We hope everyone enjoyed their summer in spite of the smoke and fires.  We know many of our members were on evacuation or evacuation alert.  Thank you to all the members who connected and helped with accommodation etc.

Congratulations to all retirees and newly hired staff.  Please watch the internal postings as they started on Tuesday, September 7th.

Our next General Meeting will take place on September 25.  More information as to whether it will be held via ZOOM or in person will follow once the announcements are made.  The agenda will be posted in early September.

As announced, masks are mandatory for all staff and students grades 4-12.  Please read the emails from the Health & Safety Department.

Have a good week.

David Tether

 

 

 

CUPE Supports

CUPE supports our LGBTQ2+ members.   Below is information posted on the CUPE BC website.  We encourage all members to read the many articles available on their website as well as the statement copied below on the Kamloops Residential School Discovery.

CUPE is a proud advocate for LGBTQ2+ rights. Our commitment is to fight against discrimination and hate in our workplaces and in our communities.

Through the work of our Pink Triangle Committee and with our coalition partners, we’ve helped make strides for LGBTQ2+ people in Canada and internationally.

We work every day to ensure our LGBTQ2+ members can work in a discrimination and harassment-free environment.

 

CUPE BC Statement on Kamloops Residential School Discovery

CUPE BC President Karen Ranalletta today issued the following statement on behalf of the CUPE BC Executive Board.

The discovery last week of a mass burial site containing the bodies of 215 children at the former Kamloops Residential School is a terrible but important reminder that Canada’s racist and genocidal approach to First Nations peoples is not a relic of a distant past. The residential school system, which was designed to strip Indigenous children from their families, and then eliminate their language, culture and history, continued to operate until 1996.

Our hearts go out to all survivors of the residential school system, and particularly to members of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, on whose unceded territory the school operated until 1978. To read the statement from the Office of the Chief, click here.

We join with those urging donations to the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society here.

CUPE BC is urging all local governments across the province to lower flags to half-mast as an act of mourning and solidarity. We also join the BCTF in urging school boards to lower flags to half-mast at all schools in B.C., and we’re calling on all educators, support staff and students to wear orange from May 31 – June 4 as a form of reconciliation with Indigenous people. We encourage all members, regardless of sector, to wear orange as well.

We also urge all employers, regardless of whether in the public or private sectors to demonstrate their solidarity with survivors—if your workplace or business displays a flag, please lower it to half-mast.

To Indigenous CUPE members: we can only imagine the pain and trauma this news has caused, or reawakened. If you need help, the National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-925-4419.

CUPE BC is committed to reconciliation with Indigenous people, and we encourage everyone to learn more about the horrific residential school system in Canada. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has excellent resources here. Specific information about the Missing Children and Burial Information can be found in the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation section 71-76.

Finally, non-Indigenous members in particular are encouraged to begin—or to continue—taking steps toward reconciliation. Indigenous people whose children were stolen want proper burials for their children; bring the children home.

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September 25th General Meeting

The next CUPE General Meeting will be held on September 25th – 9:30 a.m. in Room 1 at Hollywood Road Education Services.

Sign up will be through SD23 Dashboard/Workshop Tile/Login as there is a limited number of participants allowed due to COVID restrictions.  An email will be coming to ALL CUPE on Monday with a link to sign up.

Please click on the link below to view the agenda:

General Meeting Agenda-September 25, 2021

The following are future General Meeting dates:

October 16, November 27, January 29, February 26, March 12, April 23, May 14, June 11

2019-2022 Collective Agreement

Click on the link below to view the 2019-2022 Collective Agreement

Collective Agreement 2019-2022 (002)

Public Education Benefits Trust (PEBT)

PEBT Civil Litigation Bulletin - January 6, 2021

Please click on the link below to read the PEBT bulletin.

PEBT Civil Litigation Bulletin – January 2021

MPP Redesign

CUPE BC will be hosting a series of information webinars for CUPE members on the Plan Partners BC Municipal Pension Plan Redesign changes.

Please read the information in the link below for further details.

MPP Redesign

2021 Support Staff Seniority List

Updated May 12, 2021

2021 Support Staff Seniority List may be viewed by opening the link below:

2021 Support Staff Seniority List-REVISED

SIA Fund in Effect as of July 1, 2020

Attention CEAs,

The Union has received a few phone calls from CEAs who have attended staff meetings at their schools and thought they were being paid to attend the meetings because of the SIA (Service Improvement Allocation) Fund.

The SIA Fund does not take effect until July 1, 2020.  The fund will only cover 1 staff meeting per month up to one hour held outside of school hours.

For other departments, please also note that the date the SIA Fund takes effect is July 1, 2020.

Changes to MSP

UPDATED: December 11, 2019

The following MSP information is from the School District and was emailed to ALL STAFF today just to give you a heads up about the changes in MSP and the new process.  This new process will start in 90 days and SD23 will email  information to ALL STAFF closer to that date.  Until then, all changes are made through the Payroll Department at SD23.

Last Friday, all employees received an email to inform you that the District processed your last MSP premium deduction in November 2019.

To further explain, MSP premiums will be eliminated January 1, 2020, however the MSP program will continue to provide provincially insured health care benefits for eligible BC residents.  Those employees with existing MSP coverage do not need to re-apply.

The District plans to cancel their Group MSP Plan in the coming weeks but the process will take up to 90 days to complete.  As our District’s Group Plan is cancelled, the Ministry of Health and Health Insurance BC (HIBC) will automatically transfer you and any existing dependents to a self-administered MSP account.  Until you are notified, contact the District’s payroll department for any changes.

As HIBC begins this transfer in the spring, each individual will be notified and will become personally responsible for keeping their individual MSP accounts up to date.

• Update your personal information, or information for other individuals on your account (including name, date of birth, or gender);

• Add and/or remove a spouse (including Common-law) or child(ren); and/or

• Update your status in Canada (e.g.: obtain a new work permit, study permit, or confirmation of permanent residence).

More Information:

1 – Questions re: your MSP coverage, visit www.gov.bc.ca/MSP or contact HIBC (1-800-663-7100);

2 – To request an MSP Account Confirmation letter that will verify MSP enrolment status for one or more individuals on your MSP account, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/confirmMSPaccount;

3 – Any further questions, visit https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/msp-premium-elimination-jan-1-2020

4.  Changes on your personal MSP form are no longer made by the District.  Members log in and make their own changes.

2020-2021 CUPE Executive:

President:  David Tether – [email protected]

Vice President:  Teri Wishlow – [email protected]

Recording Secretary:  Julie Melia – [email protected]

Secretary Treasurer:  Kieran Fahy – [email protected]

Shop Stewards:

Sergeant-At-Arms:  John O’Flaherty – [email protected]

General:  Ronn Dunn – [email protected]

Clerical:  Shelley Yost – [email protected]

Custodial:  Dean Armstrong – [email protected]

Indigenous Advocate:  Simone Gauthier – [email protected]

Operations:  George York – [email protected]

Student Support Services:  Denise Mott – [email protected]

Student Support Services:  Michelle Price – [email protected]

Transportation:  Duane Wheatley – [email protected]