We’re starting a blog.

This year, our New Year’s resolution is to start a blog.

Why? Because CUPE 2278’s vision for 2025 includes dignified working conditions and fair, comprehensive protections and benefits for all our members. That means negotiating a strong new Collective Agreement with UBC, which starts with you!

Our current Collective Agreement expires on August 31, 2025, which means we can legally start bargaining with the employer at the beginning of May. CUPE 2278 is a democratic organization. the union works because we set priorities and make decisions collectively and transparently! The Bargaining Blog is one way we’re working to keep you informed about what’s happening throughout the bargaining process, how you can have a say about the issues that matter to you, and ways you can get involved in shaping the new contract.

Over the past four months, we’ve been preparing to bargain. In September, the membership elected a four-person Negotiating Committee (Maggie Slein, Cam Gilbert, Tonia Nwobodo, and Drew Hall). These are the folks who will be there at the table with the employer once bargaining starts. Several volunteers formed a Contract Committee, which is supporting the Negotiating Committee by helping gather information about our members’ priorities and needs, develop winning proposals for the new contract, and strategize in preparation for bargaining. In November, the committees went through bargaining training with support from CUPE National. We’ve also created smaller working groups that handle research, membership outreach, and communications. Together, we’re taking a hard look at our current contract and figuring out how we can most effectively push to improve it.

The contract committee meets to discuss drafting bargaining priorities for 2025

Last term, the union distributed the Equity and Safety Survey, which gave student workers at UBC a chance to share their experiences and perspectives related to discrimination and harassment, access to healthcare, housing and affordability, and other issues. This information is helping the committees to draft bargaining proposals right now. The next step will be sending out a second, shorter survey that will ask members to rank the proposals, letting us know which issues should be our top priorities when we go to the table. Stay posted for the Bargaining Survey, launching on January 8th!

So, what’s your New Year’s resolution? If you’re envisioning a safer, more equitable, more dignified workplace in 2025, this is the perfect time to get more involved with bargaining. The Contract Committee is looking for new volunteers this term—no experience needed, and all skill sets welcome (and so much more fun than going to the gym!). We’ll be posting regular updates here on the Bargaining Blog and on our social media accounts, so keep an eye out. We’re thrilled to be in this together.

In solidarity,

Your Component 1 Contract Committee