Collective bargaining with the university’s six unionized employees groups occurs every few years. As of April 2020, the University of Victoria has successfully concluded bargaining with all six of its employee groups following negotiations begun in 2019. This web page is a source of accurate information about the collective bargaining process and is designed to keep you informed of the state of collective bargaining at UVic.
The employee groups
- CUPE 917: athletic department, food services, grounds maintenance and janitorial employees, security officers and tradespeople.
- CUPE 951: office employees, library assistants, technicians and child care workers.
- CUPE 4163 - Components 1 and 2: teaching assistants, lab assistants, French and English language instructors, and community leaders.
- CUPE 4163 - Component 3: sessional instructors and music performance instructors.
- The Faculty Association: regular faculty, limited-term faculty appointments and librarians.
- The Professional Employees Association (PEA): administrative and academic professional employees.
BC bargaining mandate
Since 1993, bargaining in the broader BC public sector has been governed by negotiation mandates established by the provincial government. The university negotiated under the provincial 2019 “Sustainable Services Negotiating Mandate” in the round of bargaining that concluded in the spring of 2020.
Elements of the Sustainable Services mandate:
- Three-year term.
- General wage increases of 2 per cent in each year.
- Ability to negotiate conditional and modest funding that can be used to drive tangible service improvements for British Columbians. An example would be targeted funds to address existing, chronic labour market challenges where employers need to meet service delivery commitments or changes that achieve service enhancements such as innovations, modernization or efficiencies.
Current Status of Collective Bargaining
Collective bargaining under the 2019-2022 Sustainable Services Negotiating Mandate has concluded at UVic and is well underway across the broader BC public sector. Nearly 290,000 of the 330,000 unionized public sector employees in BC are covered by tentative or ratified agreements negotiated under this mandate.
At UVic, bargaining is complete.
On April 7, agreements were ratified between the University of Victoria and CUPE 951 and CUPE 917. Agreements were previously reached and ratified with CUPE local 4163 (Components 1, 2 and 3), the PEA, and the Faculty Association. In total, all of UVic’s 6,468 unionized employees are now covered by tentative or ratified collective agreements negotiated under the provincial bargaining mandate.
Information about collective bargaining with each of these locals is posted on the respective web pages indicated above.
For additional information on the bargaining mandates, please visit the Public Sector Employers' Council Secretariat website.