For the Press

What is CUPE 2278?

  • CUPE 2278 represents undergraduate and graduate students who are hired as teaching assistants or markers at UBC (Component 1); or sessional instructors who primarily work in the English Language Institute (Component 2). There are about 3,000 members in the union.
How long have the union and UBC been in negotiations? 
  • Our current agreement expired in August 2010. We have been in bargaining for over two years and were in mediation from April 2012 to October 2012. 

What are the union’s core issues in bargaining?

  • Wage increase for all members.
  • Hiring Preference (a form of job security) for graduate students in their final years of study in line with UBCs extended average time to degree completion.
  • Protection from annual increases in tuition in the form of a tuition waiver of some kind to prevent the negation any wage increases gained through the collective agreement. TAs must be enrolled as UBC students as a condition of employment, therefore tuition increases mean de facto pay cuts.
  • Cost of Living Adjustment to keep wages and benefits in line with inflation.

What was the university’s last offer in bargaining prior to our job action?

  • 0%, 0%, 1.5% and 1.5% for 2010-2014
  • Vague and unworkable language on preference for Doctoral students only.

How long did the union engage in job action at UBC?

  • We actively picketed buildings for about a week before entering mediation with Vince Ready.

What are the details of the tentative agreement reached with UBC?

  • The major aspects of the tentative agreement with the employer are as follows:
    • no wage increases in 2010-2011 or 2011-2012
    • a 2% wage increase in 2012-2013 (retroactive) and 2013-2014
    • fifth-year extended preference for PhD students with no qualifications
    • protection from academic harm in work-related incidents
    • a discretionary fund will be created for employees who experience financial hardship associated with costs related to employment status. This fund comes from delaying 1% of the initial 2012 raise to December 2012 (i.e. 1% raise in September 2012, 1% raise in December 2012, 2% raise in September 2013).

    Official comment available for media release:
    “This is not even remotely the sort of agreement we were hoping for when we began this work over two years ago, but the feeling of the bargaining committee and union executive is that this is the best deal we could hope for in this round of negotiations while under the Provincial Government’s stranglehold on free and fair collective bargaining. Still, we are proud of some of the language items we have been able to accomplish in this round, and this document reflects countless hours of tireless work on the part of our bargaining team. We are all grateful for their hard work and I look forward to the next round of bargaining in 2014, hopefully under more favourable political conditions.” Trish Everett, President CUPE 2278
    Please direct further inquiries to communications@cupe2278.ca