UNBC Faces Strike
Monday, October 1, 2012 @ 5:28 PM
Prince George, B.C.- UNBC is one of four Universities in B.C. that has been served with 72 hour strike notice by CUPE.
The 370 support staff workers who are members of CUPE local 3799 at UNBC are set to walk off the job as of noon on Thursday. They will join their counterparts at SFU, TRU, UBC and UVic who have also served strike notice.
The support and teaching assistant workers have been without a new contract since 2010. The main issues are job security, inflation protection and a fair and reasonable wage increase.
UNBC will try to continue classes as usual says Vice President External Relations, Rob van Adrichem “Students should plan to attend classes as scheduled unless they have been advised otherwise by their professor.” He says the University is trying to minimize the effect of the job action, but says it will be felt in many of the services offered students, such as the Registrar’s office, learning skills centre, and the awards and financial services for students.
Comments
That’s right, walk off the job. That will teach them a lesson. They can’t hold us hostage without wage increases, job security or inflation protection since 2010. Imagine their nerve. How much do they think we should have to tolerate?
To heck with the students and their needs. We have rights. And we will exercise our rights to strike or bargain in faith. Whatever we decide to do will be in our best interests.
Have you had a look at what the administrators of these same University’s get for pay?
Whatever we decide to do will be in our best interests
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Two way street I would say. But then there are many that would sooner see employees working for minimum wage. It hasnt been a cake walk for unions its the employers that forced working people to organize. But again many are not aware of the struggles that the labour movement has had over the years.
Every worker should have a good wage. It only makes sense. They are the consummers and most of their wage goes back into the economy. Or is it more fair for management to make a hugh profit and then move it out of the country. I think not.
Cheers
Its also not fair that the students many who are also struggling for a better way of life. So who is responsable for all this disrruption? If you should arrive at an honest conclution its not the emplyees is it?
Cheers
They should get another job if they dont like the pay. short and simple. If u dont like it then leave.
UNBC has a decrease or at least not an increase in enrolments for the past five years.
The funding they receive from the BC Government is based on Full Time Equivelant, students. They have been over funded for the past 5 years, however they will now face a decrease in funding in 2013 of 1.5% and probably another decrease in 2014/15 of 2%.
Soooooo. For all intents and purposes, UNBC doesnt have the money to pay any increases, and if they do pay some, then they will have to cut programs in other areas.
Its time for people in Prince George to wake up. UNBC has been border line broke since they day it was dreamed up.
Unless you can get more people to attend this University, it will eventually be closed down. It happened with the University of Nelson BC, years ago, and it can happen here.
Just because it looks pretty, and has a few foreign students attending every year, doesnt mean it is a viable operation. If I was the Union I would hold off until things improve.
I am curious as to why the government upgraded so many colleges to universities, thereby creating surplus seats, and, among other things, cutting into UNBC’s enrolment. If there was a rationale for this, I missed it.
“I am curious as to why the government upgraded so many colleges to universities”
1. BC was not educating as many university level people as other provinces. I believe that is still true.
2. It is cheaper to upgrade a college to an undergraduate university rather than create a brand new full research university which can offer PhD programs.
This is how Atlantic Canada compares with the rest of Canada.
“The region also boasts a skilled and reliable workforceâwith more post-secondary graduates per capita than the US or elsewhere in Canada, and absenteeism and turnover rates that are among the lowest in North America.
“17 world-class universities, dozens of state-of-the-art research facilities and a network of colleges and other post-secondary training institutions
“Post-secondary graduate rates, per capita, higher than the US or rest of Canada â Atlantic universities award 17,000 degrees every year, including 3,500 graduate and professional degrees
“Public spending on vocational training is 38% greater than elsewhere in Canada
Lowest employee turnover and absentee rates in North America â employees stay with employers 100% longer than their American counterparts”
[url]
http://investincanada.gc.ca/eng/explore-our-regions/atlantic-canada.aspx%5B/url%5D
http://investincanada.gc.ca/eng/explore-our-regions/atlantic-canada.aspx
“They should get another job if they dont like the pay. short and simple. If u dont like it then leave.”
Yup, every man for himself, dog-eat-dog, race to the bottom – now, that’s progressive and will definitely lead to a better world for you and me.
Fact is, those making good union wages make more of a contribution to keeping the economy jazzed than any other demographic; look it up.
I wonder if UNBC is’t different than the Nelson case in that geography plays a key role, being situated in the northen half of the province. Also, being linked to CNC and NWCC as feeder schools makes a difference. All other institutions are way down on the list of destination universities chosen by the students from these colleges.
As well, research shows that post-secondary enrollment is strongly related to local employment and with PG and environs enjoying an uptick in employment, enrollment was expected to be down. This will inevitably change and enrollment will increase as opportunity costs decrease with diminishing employment prospects.
It would be one thing if enrolment at UNBC was declining and the top administrators (President, VPs, etc) were also hurting in the pocketbook. Unfortunately, they keep getting year-over-year raises of tens of thousands of dollars. Union positions become vacant when people leave and are not filled, so the remaining staff are left to pick up the extra work. Things are starting to slowly turn around for UNBC, new initiatives are beginning to pay off, but the only people seeing the rewards of that hard work are the ones at the top. It’s not right that those already making the most get to hire additional help for themselves and reap the rewards of continuous raises ($37,000 in one year, really?!) while those working face-to-face with the students get nothing.
I understand that the local is also going to try to do things to disrupt the students as little as possible. Keep in mind that the union kept coming to the table with ideas, but UNBC and the government kept stalling.
Well there you are servant. Would you have a further comment on the topic?
Cheers
Just because one is a academic, does not mean you are smart.
“Just because one is a academic, does not mean you are smart.”
Uh, yeah, actually, it does. And that’s “an academic”, not “a academic”. But perhaps you’re confused about being smart versus being wise, neither of which appear to describe your posts.
Yes, its cheaper to upgrade a college than to build a new university, but the massive upgrading took place after UNBC was up and running. Given the existence of UNBC, you’d think that the province would only create enough new places via upgrading to fill the gap, not so many as to undercut UNBC.
It doesnt matter how people try to find reasons for the downturn in enrolments, the fact of the matter is that they are declining and have been for at least five years.
During the so called recession when more people were out of work it was anticipated that more people would attend, however that didnt happen either at UNBC or at CNC. So, so much for that theory.
The argument against UNBC from the get go was that there was not sufficient population, or students in North Central BC to support a full fledged University.
The total population from Cache Creek, to Ft St John, to Prince Rupert, Valemount, is somewhere in the area of 305,000 people.
When you factor in the decline in enrolments in schools, and the static population in this area, then it is only a matter of time before you start to decline in enrolments.
A large percentage of people in the Northern Interior do not graduate. A large percentage that do graduate, do not have the grades to enter University, and a large number who graduate, have no interest in going to University, so at the end of the day you are dealing with a very small number of people who would be considered University material. Some of the qualified students would of course attend other Universities.
We have to recognize that this University has a problem. How to fix it, is open for debate, but you cannot deny the problem exists.
The main problem with unbc is mismanagment. The extent of it is fully documented and discussed before. Chairs who punish hard working faculty members out of jealousy, or deans who reward terrible chairs because of friendship with those chairs, or administration who removes deans with good performance and renews deans with bad performance out of poltics. Putting someone as dean after insulting a faculty member and forcing the victim of insult to resign are symptoms of ill-managment in unbc. Dr George iwama was quick to fire that coach in unbc in his first year in office, but has failed to fire those who have broken the laws in unbc and have friends in Unbc .
Unbc is getting 10 mil $ more than 10-12 years ego and with the same no of students. Where the money is gone? To whom?
As long as unbc managment rewards their friends with bad performance instead of rewarding achievment and performance, the problem remains, the rest is really icing on the cake..
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