MoveUP pickets going up 8 a.m. June 6, 2023. Please join us on the picket line to support our colleagues
Good evening, colleagues:
Tonight our staff colleagues met and affirmed a walkout. Starting at 8 a.m. tomorrow, 6 June, all MoveUP staff are withdrawing services and setting up picket lines.
Now is the time to act in solidarity to support MoveUP. Let’s join together to bring the administration back to the table and end this strike.
As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, please stop your work, whether it be in-person or remote.
And after our special general meeting at 11:30 (on Zoom), please join staff and faculty on the picket lines at one of these campuses: the main North Van. (“Lynnmour”) campus; Shipyards; or Sechelt. (See below about picketing shifts.)
If you continue any of your CapU duties you will be crossing the picket line: whether it is teaching/working online or in person; completing scheduled work or PD and ancillary duties; supervising practicum students; hosting field schools and special course activities; or attending graduation ceremonies; etc. We ask that you support MoveUP and stop your work for the duration of the walkout.
The administration has stated that if MoveUP puts up pickets, the University will assume you are supporting the MoveUP strike unless you write to the administration to say you are crossing the picket line. We ask you not to do this.
Supporting MoveUP is the best way to end this strike by bringing the administration back to the table.
See our FAQs about the effect of the strike on your work and pay.
Please attend the special general meeting on Zoom on Tuesday, 6 June, 11:30 a.m. MoveUP reps will join us for this meeting.
Picketing shifts
Faculty who actively support the strike by taking picketing shifts or assisting with strike administration are entitled to $150/day of strike pay.
Richard Brand, chair of the job action committee, will write to all faculty to arrange shifts. (If you have not shared a private email address yet, please send it to cfa@capilanou.ca.)
For Tuesday, 6 June, we encourage you to come to the Lynnmour, Shipyards or Sechelt locations to support MoveUP for a 4-hour shift in the afternoon between 1 and 8 p.m. Find a CFA strike captain at one of the picketing booths to sign in.
Wednesday onward, we are scheduling shifts (8 to noon, noon to 4, and 4 to 8). We will discuss this in the SGM.
You can also attend the MoveUP rally Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Inter-River Park, 1301 Lillooet Road–just west of the main entrances to North Van “Lynnmour” campus.
Messages to students
If you have classes this term, we encourage you to send a message to students tonight or on Tuesday morning to let them know about the strike. How you do so is of course up to you, but in case it helps, here is a suggested message:
I am writing to let you know that on Monday evening the Capilano University staff union decided to start a full walkout–a work stoppage–across all CapU campuses.
The union, MoveUP, does not include faculty. However, it does include all the jobs that make my teaching and your learning possible: from the Registrar’s Office to Facilities and maintenance; from the Book Store to the Print Shop that makes copies for classes; from IT to groundskeepers.
This walkout has become necessary because the University contract bargaining team has refused to meet at the table to discuss a more equitable working environment for these valued colleagues.
Faculty members across campus, like me, have decided to honour and support this walkout. We are hopeful that our unity and support will bring the University’s bargaining team back to the table and resolve this quickly with as little impact to students as possible. We know that our working conditions are your learning conditions. We know that students understand this as well.
This means I will not be continuing teaching activities–including responding to emails–as long as this walkout may last.
Sincerely, and with optimism that we will be back in the classroom soon,
[name]
The CFA executive shares your love of educating and teaching. We know it is not easy to pause your work to support a strike.
But this is the lever that we and MoveUP have to ensure fair negotiations. Supporting MoveUP not only helps our colleagues but upholds our own bargaining power. Please stand united with your faculty and staff colleagues.
In solidarity,
Bargaining Committee and Job Action Committee