BURNABY—A bargaining survey for CUPE K-12 members has closed and preliminary results are being tabulated.
“Thanks to all the members who took the time to respond, we received a high level of participation,” said K-12 Presidents Council President Warren Williams, noting that more than one in four members completed the survey. “Over the past 16 years our members took the brunt of cuts to education and they want their voices heard to improve conditions for students in B.C. schools.”
CUPE members participated through either an online or paper version of the survey. The survey will inform the provincial and local bargaining.
Following are some of the survey results.
Violence in the Workplace:
38% of all respondents have experienced an angry or abusive encounter with a member of the public.
65% of all respondents have experienced an angry or abusive encounter with a student.
Education Assistants and violence:
85% of EAs have experienced an “angry or abusive” encounter with a student.
Affordability:
Only 22% of respondents are paying less than 30% of their income on housing (the amount that CMHC says is considered affordable).
38% are paying more than 50% of their income towards housing.
42% of respondents are working less than 30 hours a week.
Workload:
55% say that there is only sometimes, rarely or never enough time to complete their work in a day. In other words, only 45% say there is usually or always enough time to complete their work in a day.
Provincial bargaining team members have been elected in most regions and the K-12 Presidents Council has reviewed survey results to develop provincial bargaining proposals. The collective agreements for the K-12 sector expire on June 30, 2019.