Following two days of job action on both Camosun Lansdowne and Interurban campuses, and a public declaration of support from the Camosun College Student Society, CUPE 2081 chief steward Louise Oetting is happy with what the union has achieved.
“All I can say is that we’re very proud and pleased with the support we received from the student society and the students over the past two days and it really is not our wish to inconvenience anyone,” says Oetting. “But from our standpoint, these are jobs that many students should be eyeing as their future and we want them to inherit good jobs with good working conditions.”
The picket lines are down and the strikes are off for now, although the picket lines may or may not come back up, depending on how a meeting on Thursday, November 22 goes.
“What we’ve seen over the past two years has been a blatant disregard by the BC Liberals in interfering with a free collective bargaining process and our employer,” she says. “It’s our hope that now that we have an opportunity to engage the deputy minister of advanced education directly [on Thursday], we’ll see some movement and won’t need to disrupt classes any further.”
Oetting is also issuing a call to students to lend a hand in the process.
“In our view, if the students can help us we’d appreciate it,” she says. “Call the college president, call their MLAs, and call the minister of advanced education. Tell them it’s time to get back to the table and negotiate.”
More news to come.