Solidarity with Support Staff

Dear members,
 
On June 8, we sent out a call for solidarity with support staff members who are trying to negotiate a new collective agreement. As we mentioned, the Central Administration has asked the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development to hold a final offer vote, a request that in the last twenty years has only been made by three other universities. Last week, we learned that the vote will take place from Monday, June 22 to Friday, June 26.
 
Once again, we call on our members to join the APUO Executive Committee in expressing solidarity with SSUO members. As expressed to President Frémont in our most recent letter of support for the SSUO, members of the support staff are colleagues with whom we work every day. We all know how excellent, professional, dedicated, and essential they are in the execution of our University’s mandate. Their work should be recognized with fair compensation, comprehensive benefits, and great respect. We encourage APUO members to express their support and solidarity for the SSUO by tweeting at @psuossuo, by sending email messages to SSUO members they know, and by bringing back the #Respect hashtag used during our last round of collective bargaining on twitter.
 
The outcome of this vote and the collective agreement that may ensue could have a significant impact on our own collective bargaining next year. We support the SSUO’s recommendation to its members to vote no to the final offer so that it has the opportunity to resume a more collegial bargaining process with the Central Administration, and to reach a fair and equitable agreement for its members.