Greetings Vancouver School Board Members!
We would like to begin by wishing everyone a great summer and thank all our members for their support and understanding as we navigated through some very challenging times this past school year.
We wish to provide all 10-month CUPE Local 15 members with a heads up regarding what you can expect regarding your first pay day back in September. Your first pay day will be September 20, 2024 and it will cover the period from September 3, 2024 – September 13, 2024. There is always a one week hold back as well.
This pay period will also include your vacation pay for those that opted for the September payout; we thought you should know this so you can plan accordingly for September.
This is another reminder that if you have not already applied for funding under the Wellness Fund, please put in your applications as soon as possible. It has received great interest and we want everyone to benefit from it. The committee may look at possibly opening it up to all CUPE Local 15 members in the next school year, but that possibility still needs to be worked out with the employer.
For members working through the summer months, we will have shop stewards available through the shop steward phone/email line if assistance is required.
As this problem seems to pop up every new school year, we wanted to remind members about the taking of vacation during the school year or anytime for that matter. Every year, some Administrators try to tell our members that they cannot take their vacation unless they, the Administrator, approves it. That is simply not correct. However, in the very rare case there is a situation that for operational requirements, a vacation may be postponed, but no vacations can be unreasonably denied.
In preparing for the next school year, we encourage all members to acquaint themselves with the process for refusing unsafe work. You have the right to refuse unsafe work, and our priority is ensuring everyone works in a safe and healthy environment. The union has been in discussions with the employer regarding how reassignments will take place in the event of an unsafe work refusal, and we are pleased to report that members will not be expected to sign off that they are accepting unsafe work.
However, we are extremely frustrated and annoyed that our discussions regarding the transition of students from certain programs back into their home schools is basically being ignored by senior management and we are not prepared to let this issue go by the wayside. Your safety is our #1 priority!
We would be remiss if we did not give a shout out to all of our incredible shop stewards and site contacts who have volunteered their time to help all our members at the VSB. Without them, we could not provide you with the help you need; so if you see them, please thank them as well because they are all volunteers, and it is thankless work sometimes.
Again, once we have sign off on the Wellness Funding, we will be sure to let members know by posting it up on our website.
In closing, we wish everyone again a very happy and healthy summer!
In solidarity,
Warren Williams
President