Campaign for Fairness – Five Days Sick Leave for PTS Members

Campaign for Fairness – Five Days Sick Leave for PTS Members

Michael Conlon, Executive Director

On January 20, 2022, I posted about the provincial government’s changes to the Employment Standards Act (ESA) that added five paid sick days for workers in the province, including part-time workers. Naturally we assumed that our members teaching into Part-Time Studies (PTS) would be covered by this provision. Indeed, the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training, Anne Kang, released a string of tweets celebrating changes to the ESA.

Unfortunately, several days after the changes were announced, BCIT informed us that PTS members were in fact not covered by the changes as a result of a technicality embedded in the regulations. After consulting with other unions in our sector and across the province it became clear that the regulations as written could exclude virtually all public sector employees. While we are exploring potential grievance options, it also key to push the Minister to reverse this glaring oversight.

To that end, you will find text below for a letter to send to the Minister from your BCIT email demanding changes to ensure our PTS members have access to five days of paid sick leave. There are two versions of the letter, one can be sent by PTS members and another letter for our full-time regular members to send in solidarity. Please feel free to customize the letter as you wish. We ask that you cc the FSA at: fsa@bcit.ca. The Minister’s email addresses are AEST.Minister@gov.bc.ca and Anne.Kang.MLA@leg.bc.ca.

Please feel free to connect with me directly at mconlon@bcit.ca if you have any questions.

SAMPLE LETTER TO THE MINISTER FOR PTS MEMBERS

Dear Minister Kang,

As a part-time, precarious faculty member at BCIT, I do not have access to five guaranteed days of paid sick leave so, like many British Columbians, I was excited when I saw that your government had introduced mandatory five days paid sick leave for all workers in the province, including part-time workers. As you tweeted on January 4, 2022, five days paid sick leave for all workers in BC was “a great start to 2022” and an important aspect of your government’s plan to “build a stronger BC together.”

Unfortunately, shortly after the announcement, I was informed by my union that I may not, in fact, be eligible for five days paid sick leave as a result of a technicality in the regulations. As you know, the issue of fairness for underpaid, part-time faculty in the college and university sector is an ongoing challenge, so you can imagine how disappointed I was to learn that your government had written the legislation in a manner that excludes virtually all part-time, public sector employers.

I am calling on you to fix this exclusion as soon as possible so that the regulations actually cover all part-time employees in BC. Until this change is made, I think it is important for your government to know that this announcement will actually exacerbate the sense of unfairness felt by part-time faculty rather than being a “great start for 2022” or contribute to “build[ing] a stronger BC together.”

I thank you for taking the time to correct this.

Yours sincerely,

SAMPLE LETTER TO THE MINISTER FOR FULL TIME REGULAR MEMBERS

Dear Minister Kang,

As a full-time (technical staff, specialized faculty or faculty) staff member at BCIT I am entitled to paid sick leave. However, I know that many British Columbians, including my colleagues in Part Time Studies at BCIT, do not have this benefit. Therefore, like many British Columbians I was excited when I saw that your government had introduced mandatory five days paid sick leave for all workers in the province, including part-time workers. As you tweeted on January 4, 2022; five days paid sick leave for all workers in BC was “a great start to 2022” and an important aspect of your government’s plan to “build a stronger BC together.”

Unfortunately, shortly after the announcement, I was informed by my union that my part-time colleagues are not, in fact, eligible for five days paid sick leave as a result of a technicality in the regulations. As you know, the issue of fairness for underpaid, part-time faculty in the university and college sector is an ongoing challenge, so you can imagine how disappointed I was to learn that your government had written the legislation in a manner that excludes virtually all part-time, public sector employers.

I am calling on you to fix this exclusion as soon as possible so that the regulations actually cover all part time employees in BC. Until this change is made, I think it is important for your government to know that this announcement will actually exacerbate the sense of unfairness felt by part-time faculty rather than being a “great start for 2022” or contribute to “build[ing] a stronger BC together.”

I thank you for taking the time to correct this.

Yours sincerely,