Members of CUPE Local 116 employed by the University of British Columbia (UBC) have ratified a new agreement under government’s Shared Recovery Mandate.

The agreement represents approximately 2,400 employees who provide support services at UBC’s Vancouver campus, including administrative, trades, research assistance, food and hospitality services (data as of April 2022).

Key priorities of the 2022 mandate include:

• protecting the services that people in British Columbia depend on;
• improving health care and preparing for future needs and challenges; and
• supporting a strong economic recovery that includes everyone in B.C.

These negotiations are focused on providing a fair and reasonable offer to public-sector workers that includes significant inflation protection while ensuring that government has the resources to continue to invest in building a stronger province for everyone.

The ratified agreement includes:

• Three-year term – April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2025
• General wage increases:
  • Year 1 – a flat increase of $0.25 per hour, which provides a greater percentage increase for lower-paid employees, plus 3.24%
  • Year 2 – 5.5% plus a potential Cost of Living Adjustment to a maximum of 6.75%
  • Year 3 – 2% plus a potential Cost of Living Adjustment to a maximum of 3%
• A negotiable “flexibility allocation” of up to 0.25% in years 1 and 2 to support mutually beneficial outcomes for both parties
• Important achievements for both the parties include increased support for employee health and well-being, additional increases to support some of the lowest paid employees, supporting the recruitment of historically under-represented candidates while also embedding support for EDI and anti-racism into collective agreement language. The parties also agreed to support cultural leave for Indigenous employees and recognized cultural and religious observances for the entire community, expanding the sustainable transportation program that supports funding for public transit, as well as language to provide operational flexibility to support employees and the university.

Currently, there are just over 137,000 public-sector employees covered by tentative or ratified agreements reached under B.C.’s Shared Recovery Mandate.

Learn More:

To learn more about public-sector bargaining in B.C., visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/employers/public-sector-employers/public-sector-bargaining