“post-retirement benefits, program redundancy, and salary structure.”

OMG, major employers in the area closing or slowing, major industries on the verge of collapse and these academics want a salary fight?
That’s using the ol’ noggin’!

Don’t like your job? Quit, heaven knows there are lots of other folks (some much more caring and qualified) to fill your spot(s). What I hear from students at UNBC is quite a few of the “Faculty” seem to take the job of teaching with a “grain of salt”. So maybe we should clean house up the hill as well and bring in some talent that can teach and want to teach. If you want a big retirement package go into the private sector, just keep in mind one point, you will be expected to actually work.

Que the haters of unions, the fact that companies would pay next to nothing, no vacation, no stats and would have no safety standards if not for unions doesn’t seem to be a consideration. Why should anyone feel thankful that they have a job, don’t we sell our labour with an expectation of being paid? Why should we expect to be paid as little as possible so that someone else makes more from our labour? I will never understand this idea that corporations create jobs, they don’t. Market demand for a product creates jobs so the company should be thankful that we decide to help them make money from that demand.

Considering the financial mess that UNBC is in, its highly unlikely they have any money to pay out anything more in Salaries, and Benefits.

If they do get some raises, I suspect it will come from layoffs, and downsizing.

Without an increase in enrollments (which is highly unlikely) this University has **peaked**.

This doesn’t affect the faculty, only support services. Professors and Lecturers are not part of the union.

@Palopu: The City didn’t seem to have any problems raising staffing levels over the past 20 or so years even though the City hasn’t grown.

When it comes to a neverending supply of taxpayer dollars, the normal rules don’t apply.

“Post-retirement benefits?” I have to shake my head in disbelief at that one! The taxpayer teat has been taking too much of a beating lately; time to derail that gravy train!

There is growing concern about the cost of medical/dental after retirement. It’s costly and every year the cost rises substantially. As incentives some companies offer to cover medical for different time lengths after retirement. I know my fathers costs for medical have risen over 40% in 7 years. It’s a huge hit to anyone on a fixed income so trying to get that concern taken care of is understandable.. Not sure if they will get anywhere with it but if you don’t ask you never will.

Would be nice to know what program redundency actually means to them.

Salary structure .. We all would like to get a raise but it’s what the market dictates for the job. Can’t pay to much or won’t have a job to go to.

I know what foreign students pay in tuition and can see more and more seats going to them to cover costs, one of the main goals of UNBC when it was opened was to make it easier for students from this area to be able to further their studies for cheaper than going south. Let’s hope this university doesn’t lose that vision when pursuing the almighty dollar.

We all have growing concern about the rising costs of medical treatment after retirement.

While many will resort to cashing in more of their RRSP’s, TFSA’s or other savings, and while some may use reverse mortgages or may downsize in order to meet these costs, once again we have yet another group of public sector workers who feel that it is their right to have everyone pay for their benefits!

Most public sector workers will enjoy a pension the likes of which the average private sector worker can only dream about. While I acknowledge that the public sector workers do contribute to their pensions, their personal contributions are matched or exceeded by the contributions from the taxpayer, many of whom do not have a pension at all!

Public sector workers should pay their own medical/dental costs in retirement, just like the rest of us!

Oops, sorry, my mistake!! As far as the public sector unions are concerned, all costs should be covered for the public sector retirees, even if it means that the “rest of us” have to live on canned cat food that we shoplifted in order to survive!

But that’s just my opinion and it doesn’t matter, because I hate unions, right??!!

pgjohn@This is about the faculty. The Faculty Association is now a union.

I read the other night how the powerful unions in Detroit broke the town .A town of 2 million is now 700,000. Way to go unions.
Yesterday an anouuncement, 300 union members layed off at a mine. I wonder what happened there. Way to go unions.

it’s true that UNBC can’t expect an increase in revenue in the near future, but it is possible that costs could be cut in some areas. It seems to be pretty widely felt that UNBC, like a lot of other universities in recent years, has too many administrators and pays them too much. Another area that some suggest cutting is athletics.

Onemansthougths.. That happened over a decade ago..lol. Did you here the USA voted in their first black president, we have landed on the moon…lol

But the failure of Detroit is a perfect example of unions ignorance. During the good times the auto industry was making big money and in return shared the profits with the unions, but when the big 3 started to lose more of the market share to better made vehicles the unions still wanted their cake eat it too.. Wanted it all with no concessions. Before the huge fall of the Detroit auto makers the stats I read where 18% from every card sold went to cover Union members retirement costs.

I know there are lots of union haters here but you have to remember the good unions have done. Increased safety, better working hours, vacation, benifits etc. It’s like everything else though.. We are so quick to forget the good as we as society now always focus on the negativity. It’s always the union saving the lousy workers job etc that is focused on.. But how many lives have the changes to safety etc have the union movement saved.. How quick we forget.

As for the layoff at the mine.. I didn’t know the unions dictate the price of raw minerals.. It’s not the union that shut the mine down, it was the company. If you actually read the article it would be clear to you why they mine shut down…but you didn’t so you just pointed the finger at the union.

Harden the f$ck up!!!

Given that the economy is tanking; Target, Mexx and Sony have closed their doors (Sony is still in business, just no more store fronts), hundreds are being laid off in the oil industry, mines are closing, etc. etc. etc,; I propose a 10% reduction in salary and no “post retirement benefits” nonsense.

When the economy has picked up then you can get your 10% back.

Axman – exactly. And don’t forget that the pensions are invested in those same evil coorporations that are supposed to give everything to the unions and not turn a profit for its investors. Wait…

Imsofunny89…Ello there, how are ya.. That’s a dashing moustache ya got there mayte..

post-retirement benefits? What? When a person retires it is the pension plan that looks after their future needs not the former employer. What is next paid stat holidays and vacations for retirees? You think a university education is expensive now just wait until they have to pay benefits to people who in some cases might not have worked there for 30 years.

I also wonder what the details of “program redundancy” are. Clearly if there is duplication then one program should be eliminated or merged and staffing adjusted accordingly.

P Val you posted about how unions have helped people over the years and can’t argue that(for the most part) It is clear in this case the pendulum has swung too far and why is it unions paid from the public purse that come up with these looney ideas(unlimited massages for the bctf another example)?

Never mind the vote, lock the gate!

imsofunny89- no not really

I hardly think the economy has anything to do with Target closing it’s Canadian stores.

Interceptor you are wrong, companies can no longer invest the unions retirement funds in their own company, been illegal since the Enron, world com crash. That way if the company goes under the pension money isn’t lost. Talk to any retiree from pope and talbot in Mackenzie. They have lost about 40% of their monthly retirement payments, lost all medical etc.. They have been screwed over big time and have no repercussions to acquire that money.

Correct P Val, poor wording on my part. I did not mean the “same” company but coorporations in general :-)

Interceptor think the ruling was called sarbains-oxy.. I know my company stopped all investment of retirement back into after the ruling. used to have the ability to buy stocks in the company as well but that was stopped too. Now have to buy them on your own.

Sarbanes-Oxley is a US law. It doesn’t apply here unless indirectly because the company is American.

I work for an American company, most huge companies in Canada ar USA owned and have to abide by that ruling

UNBC can cut some of its perks to employees.. Free tuition for your family just because you work there???They have a lot of perks up there that can be cut out to reduce costs. Be like the rest of society…pay yourself for what you need

Everyone thinks that UNBC employees have fat public pensions.

In reality, UNBC faculty and staff have NO post retirement pensions or benefits. None. Zip.

The only people with perks and high pays are the managers and administrators who have screwed UNBC up.

Posted on Thursday, January 15, 2015 @ 3:09 PM by Hart Guy

X2.
metalman

Posted on Thursday, January 15, 2015 @ 10:32 PM by shadowy

Everyone thinks that UNBC employees have fat public pensions.

In reality, UNBC faculty and staff have NO post retirement pensions or benefits. None. Zip.

———-

News Flash! No one in the private sector has a taxpayer funded pension or taxpayer funded post retirement benefits either! If you want to retire comfortably start putting 10% of your pay away every pay day and you’ll be rich before you know it. Stop expecting the rest of us to support your retirement.

UNBC has perks for all its employees.. You have a job there, tuition is free for your family. that add up to a sizeable amount