Hello TSSU Members,
Last week we were back with the Employer at the virtual bargaining table. Our Zoom bargaining sessions continue, and we continue to have general members there with us. We hope you can join us next time!
We are still working towards reaching agreement on first-stage proposals that are less substantive before moving on to the second stage, which will involve bargaining substantive issues such as pay and benefits, in November. Spokespersons for both parties indicated that while progress has been slow, we are making progress. This has not often been the case with our Employer in bargaining, so we remain cautiously optimistic about the outlook for bargaining at this stage.
The TSSU bargaining committee has some concerns about three items the Employer was sticking on. We asked them to directly respond to the questions:
- Why does the Employer consider it impossible to offer RA a letter of employment 3 weeks before their job would start, when reasonably possible?
- Why does the Employer claim RAs don’t need to be added to department email lists?
- Why can’t the Employer commit to extending access to the campus recreational facilities to RAs in the same way as it does for other workers on campus?
The Employer answered that:
- Letters of employment cannot be given 3 weeks early because “flexibility” is needed, but they assured us that RAs will generally “know far in advance.” The Employer says they must retain the ability to continue to perpetually change start dates.
- It is too much work to manually add RAs to department email lists. They claim it is up to the employer how to communicate with RAs. This is an unsympathetic response to RAs being excluded from Department activities.
- RAs accessing recreational facilities is a cost to the Employer. They could not say what the cost is, nor how they would calculate it, but they are currently unwilling to grant access to the on-campus facilities for free to RAs, as they have for other SFU employees. They have not “entirely put their mind to it,” but will return to this issue in the next stage of bargaining.
We do not agree these responses are adequate, so the questions remain outstanding as we continue bargaining. As we get closer to stage two proposals, i.e. the more substantive elements, we need your input more than ever! Come talk to us at the RA social we are hosting on Wednesday, September 25 from 4:30-6:30pm at Biercraft on Burnaby Campus. Registration is still open, but spots are filling up (update: we are now sold out!)!
In solidarity,
Your TSSU Contract Committee