Equity

The FSA Equity Caucus guides the implementation of the FSA Equity Policy and helps to realize its goals. The Caucus also helps the FSA enhance participation by members who are part of equity-seeking groups and allows participants to work together to articulate their interests. The Caucus’s terms of reference are here and its mandate can be found in the Members Portal.

COPTS guides the direction of FSA initiatives related to our members working in Part-Time Studies, who face uniquely acute labour-relations issues within the bargaining unit. The Caucus also provides guidance to the FSA regarding how best to enhance participation by members in PTS. COPTS allows participants to work together to articulate their interests to the FSA and, through the FSA, to BCIT and other stakeholders who influence Part-Time Studies at BCIT. Visit the Members Portal for more information.

The Diversity Circles (DC) initiative was co-founded by the FSA and BCIT Research, enabled by a successful SSHRC grant led by FSA members and DC co-creators Zaa Joseph and Shannon Kelly. The FSA continues to support DC in-kind. FSA and members and staff continue to be well represented on the DC Steering Committee and among its collaborators. Check out upcoming events hosted by DC.

In addition to our members on Institute committees like the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Institute Accessibility Committee, and Diversity and Inclusion in Learning, the FSA appoints members to a number of different committees led by external organizations. Our members sit and have sat on the Canadian Association of University Teachers‘ Equity Committee, helping to create post-secondary union policy on the national level. We also appoint members to BC Federation of Labour Standing committees that organize for equity denied groups: Human Rights, Women and Gender Rights, and Young Workers’.

The number one priority area identified in the FSA’s 2021-26 Strategic Plan is to reduce inequity. To address problems of inequity, our objectives include but are not limited to: identifying and working to address inequities in different FSA job classifications; increasing awareness within the membership about existing inequities; increasing accessibility and seeking to remove barriers to participation in the FSA; and holding BCIT accountable for reducing inequities.

At a February 2022 FSA Board Meeting, the Board approved a motion that directed staff to “retain a consultant to assess the accessibility of the current FSA spaces, systems, and services and make recommendations, if any, for improvement in the form of an FSA Accessibility Plan. This will include both ‘FSA governance’ in that it will include a review of existing policies from an accessibility lens and ‘FSA operations’ in that it will pertain to physical spaces, use of remote/online platforms, service offerings, and internal systems.” The assessment was conducted in summer 2022 by the Social Planning and Research Council of BC. Its results are expected to be published by late spring 2023.

The FSA is a signatory on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Accord. The purpose of the accord is to inspire, celebrate, and advance the critical role that education has in delivering the United Nation’s SDGs and the value its interlinked objectives bring to governments, business, and wider society. The UN’s SDGs provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

The FSA provides ongoing training to members and staff on issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion in order to promote a healthy and respectful work environment at BCIT.

The FSA’s Donations & Gifts Policy allows the union to direct monetary donations to organizations that reflect our values, including groups that work to end or ameliorate inequality.  In the recent past, donations have gone out to groups including the Ethos Lab and a variety of unions affected by job action.