UBC Reports | Vol. 46 | No. 20 | December
14, 2000
Agreement is important first step in addressing salary issues says Human
Resources director, Lisa Castle
by Andy Poon staff writer
More than 1,200 university management and professional (M&P)
staff will be getting a two per cent combined increase in their wages
and benefits next summer after a new work agreement was ratified this month.
The University Public Sector Employers’ Association (UPSEA) recently
approved a new agreement on the conditions and terms of employment for
M&P staff at UBC which includes a one per cent
general wage increase and a one per cent increase for benefits improvement to
take effect next July.
The increases fall within Public Sector Employers’ Council guidelines of zero
wage increases in July 1, 1999 and July 1, 2000, with the two per cent increase
in July 1, 2001.
University employees voted to accept the agreement this fall and UBC’s
Board of Governors approved it at their most recent meeting.
“This brings our management and professional staff salaries closer to
the market values out there,” says Michael Shepard, chief negotiator for the
Association of Administrative and Professional Staff (AAPS),
which represents all M&P staff at UBC.
Shepard maintains that while the agreement means an additional $1-million
increase to UBC’s M&P staff salary pool in January,
on average, salaries at the university remain about five per cent below market
values for similar management and professional positions in the private
sector.
“But the one per cent of salary added to benefit money could potentially bring
us a 20 per cent increase in things such as extended health care,” he says.
“This agreement is an important first step in addressing the salary issues of
M&P staff,” says Lisa Castle, UBC’s director of
Human Resources-Employee Relations.
She adds that the university and the employees’ association have also agreed on
the processes to work through the remaining job classification and compensation
issues during the term of the agreement.
“It’s really about how to make us a more competitive employer and to recruit
and retain excellent management and professional staff,” says Castle.
Another key feature of the new agreement is the addition of a two-year trial
sick leave plan effective January 2001, which will pay qualified
staff for up to six months until they are eligible for the income
replacement (long-term disability) plan.
Before the new agreement, M&P staff accumulated one and
one-quarter sick days for each month worked to a maximum of 152 days.
Staff must have already served their 12-month probation period to
qualify for this plan.
UBC’s M&P staff negotiated an agreement on
conditions and terms of employment with the university for the first time in
1997. The new three-year agreement covers the period from July 1, 1999 to June 30,
2002.
more information
AAPS Web site:
www.interchange.ubc.ca/aaps
