Our contract expires on August 31, 2025. According to BC Labour Relations Code, we are able to send UBC a “Notice to Bargain” any time within the four months leading up to the date our contract expires. This means we can legally start bargaining in May 2025!

Component 1 of CUPE 2278 currently is composed of Teaching Assistants (TAs, both graduate and undergraduate), Graduate Academic Assistants (GAAs), and Exam Invigilators at the Centre for Accessibility at UBC. We are awaiting a decision from the BC Labour Relations Board regarding whether Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs) are eligible to join Component 1 of CUPE 2278, but these employees are not yet covered by a collective agreement.

The length of the bargaining process will depend on how the negotiations play out. There are no set timelines for bargaining, and it may last for months. After the current collective agreement expires on August 31, it will remain in force until a new collective agreement has been reached. 

Component 1 members elected a four person Negotiation Committee on September 25, 2024. This committee will be the primary group of people responsible for bargaining with UBC. However, we firmly believe that bargaining should be an open, democratic process. As such, we plan to open the bargaining table to any members of the bargaining unit who would like to participate in the bargaining process. Keep posted for updates as our bargaining dates approach!

The union’s priorities in bargaining are the priorities of the members! As a democratic, membership based organization, we decide on our priorities collectively. The following are excellent ways for you to get involved in the process and make your voice heard.

1. Join the Contract Committee! This is the most effective way for you to have a say in issues that matter to you. The Contract Committee is a volunteer-based committee that coordinates our bargaining process, and has many opportunities for engagement with whatever skillset you offer, including in communications, research, and membership outreach.

2. Fill out the Bargaining Survey! This is how we formally measure how our members prioritize key issues that are important to them. Once you fill the survey, find 5 friends and make sure they fill it out too.

3. Attend Membership Meetings! Once the Contract Committee obtains the results from the Bargaining Survey, we will assemble a package of bargaining proposals. We will then hold a meeting of the entire membership to hear input on the package and conduct an endorsement vote, where the members get to decide if the package we present represents their interests.

4. Join a Bargaining session! Once bargaining starts, we will have many sessions at the table with the employer. Stay tuned for updates on when our negotiations will take place, and show up to the table to show the employer that we mean business.

Bargaining is a cycle that officially begins when the union gives “Notice to Bargain,” signalling to UBC that we’re ready to come to the table. At the table, CUPE 2278 presents proposals that the membership has agreed upon beforehand, and UBC counters with their own proposals. The two parties negotiate until an agreement is reached; or, if no agreement is reached, the union can declare impasse. The new agreement only becomes official only when the CUPE 2278 membership ratifies it through a vote.

Our first priority is to come to an agreement with UBC on a contract that works for everyone. However, if UBC does not come to the table with reasonable proposals that are satisfactory for our members, there are a few things that can happen:

1. Mediation–if we can’t reach an agreement with UBC, we may agree to appoint a mediator to help the negotiations move along. A mediator is a neutral person who can facilitate the negotiations, but they don’t have any authority to make decisions on the outcome of the negotiation itself.

2. Arbitration–if mediation fails, we can ask for an arbitrator. An arbitrator would take both sides into account, and then make a final decision on an outcome, more similar to a judicial process. Unlike a mediator or conciliator, an arbitrator issues a report that is binding on the employer and constitutes the terms for the new collective agreement. In most cases, we want to avoid binding arbitration, because it removes agency from our members to have a say over our own contract.

3. Strike–the ultimate power of a labour union is the ability to withhold our labour. If the negotiating committee thinks that the employer will move if we push them harder, it will ask the members if they are willing to strike. 

In actual practice, a combination of these things could occur.

Under ideal circumstances, we will reach a satisfactory agreement with UBC without needing to resort to job action. However, the right to collectively withhold our labour is one of the most powerful tools that workers have to improve our working conditions and the learning conditions of our students. 

The BC Labour Relations Code governs the bargaining process, and requires that parties bargain in good faith. This means that both the union and UBC are required to “make every reasonable effort to conclude a collective agreement”. If we have discussed all of our bargaining proposals with UBC in good faith without reaching an agreement, this is known as impasse.

If the Negotiation Team isn’t able to make progress on our key bargaining priorities, we would hold a strike authorization vote to show UBC that their proposals are unacceptable. This type of vote is how the members can make their voices heard to UBC to tell them that we are not satisfied with their proposals. 

If a majority of the members vote in favour of the strike authorization, this gives the Negotiating Team a “strike mandate”, which they can use as leverage to implement our bargaining priorities. If there is still no progress after the strike authorization vote, the Negotiation Team would have the ability to issue a 72 hour strike notice to UBC. 

A new collective agreement only comes into effect when the members of the union have decided that it meets all their needs. Once the negotiating team has obtained a tentative agreement that they believe meets the needs of the members, we will bring the tentative agreement to the membership for ratification. This is a final chance for members to ask questions, raise concerns, and discuss whether the agreement is satisfactory for all of our colleagues.