The K-12 provincial bargaining committee was back at the negotiation table late last week. Over the 2 days of meetings, we continued making progress on violence in our workplaces. This is one of our key priorities for this round of bargaining. While there is still a lot of work to do, your bargaining committee is cautiously encouraged with progress that was made on this critical issue.
SD8 $4,400,000 Budget Surplus
The Kootenay Lakes School District 8’s $4.4 million budget surplus should be reinvested to strengthen and increase direct student supports, says the district’s school support workers. CUPE 748, the union representing over 300 support workers in SD8 public schools, says the surplus is an opportunity to help students, families and communities in the region.
K-12 Bargaining Update September 24
Your K-12 sector provincial bargaining committee was back at the negotiation table this week. This was our 4th session with the B.C. Public Schools Employers’ Association in this current round of talks towards a new provincial framework agreement.
Individual Safe Work Instructions Best Practices
The K-12 Joint Health and Safety Taskforce is very pleased to release a new “Individual Safe Work Instructions Best Practices” document.
Employers, unions, and workers in the K-12 public education sector are committed to workplace safety and the prevention of workplace violence. A vital part of violence prevention is ensuring that school districts develop, maintain, and communicate effective Individual Safe Work Instructions (ISWI). ISWIs provide specific and detailed guidance to workers on potential risks, and how to safely interact or work with students whose behaviour or care needs may pose an ongoing risk to workers.
More information:
Feeding Futures Grievance Update
This week in Vancouver, Kathy, Alicia, and Anne—along with our National Representative Jolene and our legal counsel Suzanna Quail—successfully negotiated a settlement agreement through mediation regarding the outstanding Feeding Futures grievance.
Fairness in BC’s public schools – Ongoing Ombudsperson investigation
If you work with students in BC’s K-12 public schools, the Ombudsperson wants to hear from you about:
– the challenges you face in supporting students with diverse needs
– what’s working well – your success stories and best practices
Please fill out their survey at https://bcombudsperson.ca/fairness-public-schools-educators
K-12 Bargaining Update – May 28, 2025
Your K-12 provincial bargaining committee met again this week with their counterparts from the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) for the second bargaining session.
Important SFE Information
We know there are still issues with SmartFind Express and we continue to work on these with the employer. Please take a few minutes to read our SFE Information Update.
Please continue to fill out the form at https://forms.gle/WBvWtS2LvY3p8D218 as well as e-mail ron.sherman@sd8.bc.ca, copied to president@cupe748.ca and secretary@cupe748.ca if you feel you missed out on any calls you were entitled to. We meet monthly to review these.
Staffing Allocations Meeting with the Employer
Members of you local union executive, Kathy Centrone, Robin Sheppard, Anne Cavicchi, along with our CUPE National Representative, Jolene Lamoureux, met with the employer today to discuss the staffing allocations for the next school year and the associated layoffs that will take effect at the end of this school year.
Our priority throughout these discussions has been to minimize the impact on our members, while ensuring the process follows the terms of our collective agreement.
We expect the employer to begin communicating directly with any affected employees starting tomorrow (Friday, April 25). Additionally, we anticipate that new job postings will be released sometime next week.
We understand this can be a stressful time, and we are here to support our members through this process.
Anne Cavicchi
Kathy Centrone
cupe748vpwest@gmail.com
Robin Sheppard
cupe748treasurer@outlook.com
cupe748treasurer@outlook.com
AGM Coming up on May 3
Our Annual General Meeting, including elections, is on May 3, 2025. Come and get involved in your union local!