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Thousands of UBC student workers signed union cards because they want change

Graduate Academic Assistants started bargaining with CUPE 2278 this fall, after a successful union drive in 2023. Graduate Research Assistants surpassed threshold to automatically certify and join CUPE 2278, and a decision from the Labour Relations Board is expected by October 31, 2024, on whether they will join 2278 as well.

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Waiting for a decision in the GRA union drive... How did we get here?

Let’s recap what the union campaign has achieved so far:

September 2022: Organize UBC launched a public campaign to organize student workers at UBC by signing union cards. 

April 2023: After eight months of organizing, CUPE officially filed an application with the LRB to unionize GRAs and have them join CUPE 2278.

May 2023: The LRB notified CUPE that more than 55 percent of eligible workers signed a union card, which meets the threshold for automatic union certification. 

May 2023: UBC raised several objections to the application, meaning a hearing must be held before the certification could proceed.

July – October 2023: The LRB scheduled a series of hearing dates and both UBC and CUPE presented their cases. Early in the hearing most of UBC’s objections were dismissed, but one objection remained: UBC maintained that GRAs are students, not workers, and therefore they should not be able to form a union.

November 2023: The GRA hearing concluded with closing statements. Given the precedent-setting weight of the decision, the LRB indicated that they intended to issue a decision by April 30, 2024.

February - June 2024: The LRB scheduled a series of hearing dates for TSSU and SFU to present their case on Research Assistants and their right to unionize with TSSU. 

April 2024: Organize UBC and CUPE Local 2278 anticipated the LRB would release a thorough decision on the merits of UBC’s objection and whether GRAs could join CUPE.

May 2024: BC Labour Relations Board notified Organize UBC and CUPE 2278 that an extension would be needed to issue the decision on whether GRAs could join CUPE. 

June 2024: BC Labour Relations Board notified TSSU that the decision on whether Research Assistants at SFU have the right to unionize would also be delayed until October 2024. 

October 2024: Upcoming deadline for the BC Labour Relations Board to issue their decision on GRAs right to unionize with CUPE 2278 at UBC, and RAs to unionize with TSSU at SFU. 

Why Unionize?

The University of British Columbia is the largest university in the province and one of the largest in the nation. And yet, it lags behind many other schools who already have unionized research assistants, academic and lab assistants, and other student worker positions. This is despite the fact that the university cannot run without us.

Workers are facing real concerns, and currently the only resolution is addressing these with their boss, by themselves. There is no standardized formal process to resolve issues, and this has led to widespread inequity amongst workers. The lack of a union has meant diminished ability to affect working conditions or get fair wages.

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Not having a union has meant lower health and safety protocols, unclear or inconsistent hiring processes, unchallenged harassment, lack of support for mental health, widespread overwork/burnout, and having to deal with problems at work alone.

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The only way to address these issues and advance the rights of all workers on campus is to organize into a union and gain protection with a collective agreement with the university.

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Forming a union creates a clear path to the bargaining table where workers can address their shared concerns together. Together, we can make the University of British Columbia a better space for workers.

Why Choose CUPE?

After researching various options and speaking to representatives from multiple unions, student organizers collectively decided to ask CUPE for help in the organizing campaign, due to the following key reasons:

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CUPE’s status as the largest union in the province, including a strong presence in the academic sector.

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CUPE provides excellent services and resources to organizers, members, and locals.

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CUPE has an existing presence at UBC through CUPE 2278, CUPE 2950, and CUPE 116.

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CUPE has experience with large-scale organizing campaigns on university campuses.

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Finally, and most importantly, the principles of local autonomy and democracy are enshrined in CUPE’s constitution.

Steps to Unionize

Forming a union can seem overwhelming – it is a legal process governed by the BC Labour Relations Board.

Below we’ve outlined a clear roadmap to help you understand this process, and the support that CUPE provides along the way. From the early set-up phase of the campaign to achieving formal recognition, each stage plays a crucial role in empowering you and your colleagues to create positive change in your workplace.

Explore the information provided here and take the first step toward creating better working conditions for all student workers at UBC.

1

Organize UBC is a grassroots campaign of workers at the University of British Columbia.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is supporting and providing resources to the organizing committee through regional organizers who work in BC.

To join the organizing committee, fill out a volunteer form below.

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The card signing campaign is part of the legal steps to bring non-unionized workers into CUPE 2278. Signing online cards is the way we’ll signal to the BC Labour Relations Board that these workers want to be represented by and a part of this union.

Signing a union card officially indicates your support for forming a union in your workplace. All union cards are confidential, and the university never finds out who signed a card. That includes your professor, supervisor, or manager.

In order to file an application with the BC Labour Relations Board to form a union, at least 45 percent of eligible workers need to sign a confidential union card. This is called "reaching threshold" to form a union.

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There are two possible paths to forming a union depending on how many union cards are signed:

If more than 55% of workers sign union cards we automatically form a union!

If between 45% and 55% of workers sign a card, we can still file an application for certification but a representation vote is also required. To win a representation vote (and have academic workers join CUPE 2278) more than 50 percent of voters need to vote ‘yes’ to joining CUPE 2278!

Once we are well above the 55% mark, CUPE files an application to certify the union at the BC Labour Relations Board.

Once an application is submitted, the Labour Relations Board will review the union cards we’ve submitted and will confirm the percentage of workers who have signed union cards.

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Once academic workers have either automatically formed a union or officially voted YES to joining CUPE 2278, the Labour Relations Board will notify the union and the employer.

Prior to starting negotiations there are some procedural meetings that need to happen through the Labour Relations Board between the union and the employer.

Sometimes the employer may have an objection (or objections) to the union’s application and these need to be resolved before workers are officially union members.

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CUPE will support all academic workers as you and your colleagues start negotiations with the university to bring formerly non-unionized student workers under CUPE 2278’s collective agreement.

Local members have full autonomy over what you negotiate – bargaining priorities are democratically determined by you, the membership.

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The union supports the enforcement of the collective agreement using the mechanisms (such as grievance filing) outlined in the contract. This will ensure fairness and accountability in the university following the agreed terms of the collective agreement.

Union representatives will be available in each department/school to help workers resolve problems and understand their rights and responsibilities under the new contract as well as general labour laws, the Labour Relations Act (specific to unionized workplaces), and human rights legislation.

All workers can get involved in the union local to help represent their colleagues and help improve working conditions for everyone.

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A union means we can fight together for:

Fairness: Transparency, clarity, and standards at work
Equity: Enforceable protections for all
Security: Job security and clear rules for access to work
Safety: A safe and healthy workplace
Respect: Recognition as essential academic workers
Support: Proper training and supervision
Dignity: Improved mental health supports
Democracy: A collective voice for all student workers over working conditions

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My driving force for organizing was always about creating a balancing force to power. I felt that it was a privilege to work and study at a university but that didn't mean that I shouldn't have a say in the conditions I worked under. An increase in wages would mean nothing if tuition goes up more; without the union, I would have had little power to act against that. Organizing and working to bring more people into the union not only extends the protections to more workers, but also increases the union's strength and allows for more improvements in the future. 

- Gracy

About Organize UBC

Organize UBC is a grassroots movement seeking to unionize all student workers at UBC under CUPE 2278. Currently, this campaign is seeking to unionize student employees who are part of the Work Learn program. Graduate Academic Assistants have already unionized, and completed bargaining. Graduate Research Assistants surpassed threshold to automatically certify and join CUPE 2278 and are awaiting a decision from the BC Labour Relations Board regarding UBC's objections to the application.

Signing a CUPE 2278 membership card means that you agree to be part of our local union. We need eligible workers to sign cards to show the Labour Relations Board that workers like you want to be in our union. According to current BC labour laws, if 55% of eligible workers sign union cards, we will be able to join the union and begin bargaining with UBC for improved workplace rights.

If you’re an eligible student worker, signing a card is the primary way that you can join us in organizing for better pay and working conditions for UBC’s student workers. Union cards are confidential, meaning that your employer will not know that you have signed a card.

Academic workers who are paid via the Workday app are eligible to sign a card. If you are paid exclusively in lump sums as a scholarship, you are not eligible. Only eligible workers can sign cards.

If you are a student academic worker paid by UBC to do academic work through Workday and do not believe you fall into any of the above categories, please get in touch with us to discuss your particular situation.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is Canada’s largest labour union, representing 715,000 members who work in the public sector. CUPE 2278 is a locally operating union branch at UBC (typically called a “local”), which functions as a locally democratic collective. CUPE 2278’s current collective agreement pertains to the following worker roles at UBC:

  • Undergraduate Teaching Assistants
  • Graduate Teaching Assistants
  • Graduate Academic Assistants
  • Tutors
  • Markers
  • Instructors in the English Language Institute (ELI).
  • Exam Invigilators at the Centre for Accessibility

Card signing is digital! All you have to do is follow this link for detailed instructions on card signing, then fill in your information!

Cards expire every six months, so if you signed a card more than six months ago, please sign a new card!

A union advocates for you and your coworkers, negotiating with your employer for improved worker rights. Unions fight for better pay and better working conditions. If you have a workplace problem, you can contact your union for help resolving it.  

Importantly, we will work with you to negotiate a contract (formally called a collective agreement) that reflects the nature of your work and clearly articulates the terms and conditions that must be respected by your employer. Once a contract is in place the employer must respect what is laid out in the agreement. 

Arbitrary decisions and actions by an employer with respect to the contents of the negotiated collective agreement aren’t allowed. You will have a collective voice and be able to make democratic decisions about your workplace. Being a CUPE member means you have the materials, information, programs, staff expertise, and legal standing needed to meet the employer on equal terms.

About Unions

A union is an organized group of two or more workers who work collectively to advocate for decent wages, safe working conditions, and fair and equal treatment in the workplace.  

Unions in Canada are bound by law to be democratic and financially transparent, to ensure that they are acting in good faith on behalf of the workers they represent. In BC, trade unions are certified under the Labour Relations Code. 

A certified trade union can negotiate a legally-binding collective agreement between the group of workers it represents and their employer. This agreement establishes the terms and conditions of employment standards for the treatment of its members. The process of negotiating the agreement is called collective bargaining, and in BC it’s governed by the BC Labour Relations Board.

Primarily, unions use collective bargaining  to democratically establish and enforce standards regarding the rights of members in the workplace. This means defining and enforcing equitable wages, benefits, job security, and workplace standards in their collective agreements. 

On a broader scale, unions like CUPE advocate politically to improve the lives of working people, through lobbying, working with political parties, and public demonstration.

CUPE is the natural choice for unionizing student workers because TAs are already unionized under CUPE 2278.

Only trade unions recognized by the Labour Relations Board can apply to be a bargaining agent for a group of workers. Since some student workers at UBC are already unionized through CUPE—as well as student workers at other universities such as University of Waterloo—CUPE is the appropriate choice. By working with a national trade union like CUPE, we are allowed access to a wide variety of resources to help us organize our local.

About Eligibility

Yes. If you think that you will be eligible within the next 6 months, then you can sign a card now!

The main defining characteristic that we are using to categorize student workers as eligible union members is whether or not they are being paid through the Workday app. If you are only paid through the Student Service Center and your work is not organized via Workday, then you are not eligible.

It is true that UBC does not recognize academic workers as “employees,” but we want to change that. The Workday app is a clear piece of evidence to show the Labour Relations Board that there is a functional employer/employee relationship at play.

Any official documents that you signed when you accepted your position should have information regarding how your pay is being disbursed to you.

Reading through these documents and discussing them with your coworkers is a great way to build solidarity and form a better understanding of how UBC manages its student labour force.

About Getting Involved

You can sign up to join us or volunteer here.

Everyone is welcome regardless of how much time or experience you have to contribute. We are looking to organize workers by department, so if you have connections within your department, we need your help!

If you’re looking for other ways to help, we can always use volunteers for help putting on events, putting up campaign posters, and canvassing around campus. Even if you only have an hour or two to spare, every little bit helps! The best way to get the most out of your union is to get involved!

The first thing we need you to do is sign a card if you’re eligible! Once you’ve done that, talk to your friends and colleagues about the union. Even if you’re not eligible to sign a card, you might know someone who is! Consider sharing about the union drive in your online spaces where other student workers or potential volunteers might see it.

The next thing you can do is connect with us! We want your voice to be involved in this movement, so we’d love to hear about your experiences as student workers at UBC. What kinds of things make your job more challenging than it should be? Maybe you have a specific concern that you’d like to be addressed during collective bargaining, or maybe you have other questions about our campaign.

We would love to discuss how you might fit in if you’d like to be more deeply involved in organizing with us! Here are some ways you might be able to be a part of our drive:

  • Organize your department: We are trying to connect student workers by organizing within departments and programs first, since this is already how they are being managed. Networking the union in the student communities that you already occupy is one of the most important things we can do to unify student workers all around campus!
  • Join the core organizing team: There’s lots to do, and there’s room for more on our team! We meet on a weekly basis as a large group and also conduct meetings within smaller committees focused on individual academic departments.
  • Join a planning committee: We need help organizing events, developing and distributing communications materials, and doing direct outreach on campus.

Everyone is welcome! If you’re passionate about contributing your skills to our union drive, we need you—it doesn’t matter how much experience you have with organizing. It’s up to all of us to provide the support you need to find your place in this movement!

Concerns about Unionization

Yes, it’s true that union members have to pay union dues. Union dues are a way that unionized employees pool their resources to ensure that the union is able to function effectively. CUPE is a non-profit labour union, and all spending is transparent. Topline financial statements are posted on our website: Reporting and Accountability.

Union dues are equivalent to 2% of your gross pay and are also tax-deductible. If you look through CUPE 2278’s collective agreement, you’ll notice that the cost of TAs’ union dues are more than offset by benefits such as sick and vacation pay and general wage increases. Union dues are definitely worth the money!

CUPE’s union dues are divided into two parts:

  1. 0.85% of base salary is the dues rate going to CUPE National. These dues are used to pay for staff and services of the union, including your National Service Representative, research, communications, and legal, education, human rights, and health and safety support. These dues also support national campaigns, publications, meetings, and conventions which allow for the democratic functions of CUPE to function.
  2. Local dues rates are set democratically by the membership of the local. CUPE locals have democratic autonomy over the spending of our dues, which gives CUPE locals more autonomy than most unions. All locals must have trustees and audited financial statements that oversee local spending and report that spending to the members.

The unionization of student workers at UBC should not affect the scholarship(s) you receive, even if we manage to bargain for increased wages.

This was an issue recently encountered by student workers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario when a pay raise was introduced. A union can fight to prevent UBC from reducing scholarship pay to compensate for the cost of increased wages.

At universities where Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants, and similar positions are unionized, those universities are not allowed to do this.

Yes! Being in a union will not affect your eligibility for student loans. However, if your income increases, this might affect the amount of financial aid that you are eligible for.

When your eligibility for student loans is assessed, your income, your parents’ income, and your spouse’s income are all taken into account. This ensures that more aid is given to students with greater financial need.

This is a commonly used talking point to discourage unionization in any field of labour, but history has shown it to be entirely baseless. The unionization of workers at other universities in Canada has not led to reduced hiring. In fact, in some cases, university unionization has resulted in increased hiring, because the union establishes boundaries preventing students from working extra unpaid hours.

Universities like UBC have historically taken advantage of student workers by expecting them to do more work than they are being paid for. Unionization will help ensure that you are paid fairly for all of the work that you do.

Yes—this is one of the major reasons that we started the organizeUBC drive. Last year, we joined other organizers in campaigning for a tuition freeze for all post-secondary students in BC. Tuition is a unique challenge faced by university student workers that directly affects how much of their employment income can actually be used to pay for their basic needs.

When we file for union certification, there is a statutory freeze on current employment terms and conditions until the first collective agreement is completed. This means that legally, your pay and work conditions cannot get worse during the bargaining process.

The purpose of a union is to negotiate for better conditions for all of its member workers. While this might not necessarily mean that everyone gets a pay raise, it will not result in the enforcement of a new standardized wage.

At the very least, a collective agreement will establish enforceable boundaries preventing you from doing more work than you are being paid for.

This is something that will be dependent on the collective agreement made between CUPE 2278 and UBC. The union will seek to bring transparency to how many hours you are expected to work so that you can be paid properly.

Being unionized does not mean that mandatory standardized hours need to be enforced. For example, you don’t need to work 9 to 5 if you are in a union. We recognize that some workers prefer to work on weekends.

Nobody can force you to go on strike. Every aspect of the union’s collective bargaining process is conducted democratically, including striking. A strike will only happen if a strike vote is conducted and the majority of union members vote to strike.

A strike vote will only be initiated if CUPE 2278 and UBC are unable to reach a collective agreement during the negotiation process. It should be seen as a last resort if UBC refuses to negotiate in good faith and respond to the demands of student workers.

A strike doesn’t necessarily mean that all work is halted entirely—if you have time sensitive duties pertaining to your research, we can make accommodations for you. For example, if your research involves living things that require ongoing care, you’ll still be able to perform those time sensitive duties and get paid for them without “crossing the picket line.”

Thinking about the possibility of a strike can be scary and unfamiliar, but we shouldn’t see striking as a bad thing if it means securing workers the rights they deserve. One way that unions like CUPE can help make strikes a bit less scary is by providing something called strike pay. This is an hourly rate of pay which is disbursed from the national union in order to help recuperate the cost of missed work during labour action.

Striking would likely include picketing, but the primary driving force of a strike is the cessation or omission of work—proving to employers that they need us more than we need them by refusing to provide our labour until we know conditions will be improved. Since TAs are already unionized under CUPE 2278, they would be striking alongside and in solidarity with us, and we’d also have the support of other local unions.

Once you are unionized, the work you do must be paid for as wages, rather than in the form of a “stipend” or “financial award” like a scholarship or fellowship—even if the money is coming from a grant. This doesn’t mean you will get paid less, it’s simply a matter of legitimizing how you are paid, so you are not at risk of being overworked.

By paying for portions of your work as scholarships, UBC establishes a power imbalance. Rather than paying workers directly for their labour, UBC receives massive tax breaks by offering you compensation in the form of a stipend. Yes, your wages will be taxable if we unionize, but the impact on you should be negligible, considering the tax rebates available for full-time students

Questions from International Students

A union can make collective demands that address challenges that impact international students more significantly than other students. Since TAs are already a part of our bargaining unit, CUPE 2278 will be demanding that UBC cover the cost of international student MSP payments when they are working as TAs.

We could also demand that international students are given equal opportunities to be hired by challenging UBC’s hiring practices

This is a concern that the union could bring up during negotiations after unionization, since many student workers at UBC are international students. However, Canada’s immigration laws do not currently allow you to count the work you’ve done while you are a student toward your express entry application.

In Canada, labour unions exist apart from the government, and are run democratically, functioning according to the needs and wishes of voting union members. Most unions in Canada—including CUPE—are unified under the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

The CLC functions as the national governing body of unions in Canada, but it is not affiliated with the government of Canada. The Canada Labour Code outlines the national legislation surrounding the rights of employees and employers. The Canada Labour Code also determines how trade unions are legally allowed to function in Canada.

This is especially important for CUPE and its members to understand, because CUPE represents public employees—workers who are employed by the government. When CUPE bargains for improved rights for its workers, we have the added challenge of bargaining with an employer who is also the government itself. If you are a student employee at UBC—a public university funded by the Canadian government—that makes you a public employee.

Each Canadian province has its own central labour federation, such as British Columbia’s BC Federation of Labour (BCFED), which unifies all of the trade unions in BC under the CLC. BC’s trade unions defer to the Labour Relations Code (often referred to as simply “the Code”), which lays out the legal framework for how unions are allowed to function within BC. The application of this Code is overseen by the Labour Relations Board.

BC’s Labour Relations Board is a neutral party called an “administrative tribunal.” This tribunal resembles a legal court, but it is not part of the Canadian court system, existing separately from the government of Canada. Instead, it exists to mediate the relationship between BC’s trade unions and the government of Canada, as well as the relationship between the employee and their union.

While unions in Canada exist within larger provincial and national groups, they are ultimately centered around local unions or simply “locals.” CUPE 2278 is a local union that focuses on a specific group of workers in a particular place (UBC). It is essentially a branch of the larger national union, which can provide resources to our local union to help us organize.

No. Union cards are confidential, meaning that your employer will not know that you have signed a union card. The personal information that you share with us is kept securely and used so that we can stay in touch with you about our organizing drive.

Petition: Tell UBC: Research is Work!

To date, thousands of UBC student workers have signed union cards because they want change. Last spring, UBC graduate research assistants signed enough cards to pass the threshold for automatic union certification. And yet, UBC refuses to acknowledge them as workers.

UBC could not function without the contributions of graduate researchers and other academic workers, and they deserve the support and protections of a union.

Research is Work

Are you ready to take action to improve your workplace?

Organize UBC is a worker-led coalition to unionize academic workers at UBC. Everyone is welcome regardless of how much time or experience you have with organizing.

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