FPSE – 2015 Election Focus

In 26 days, we go to the polls. As educators, we are used to making decisions about what’s best not just for us, but for our families, our students and their families, and our communities. Our decision on Election Day is no different. When we look back over the past decade, we must ask ourselves whether our lives and our students’ lives have improved under this...

FPSE Convention acclaims new Executive, ...

FPSE Convention acclaims new Executive, bids fond farewell to outgoing President At FPSE’s 2015 Convention, delegates acclaimed a new Executive including President and Secretary-Treasurer. The new Executive includes: President:  George DavisonSecretary Treasurer:  Terri Van SteinbergFirst Vice-President:  Frank CoscoSecond Vice-President:  Leslie Molnar Congratulations to...

FPSE Delegation heads to Legislature

Delegation heads to Legislature for debate on ABE A group of students, faculty, administrators, and school trustees joined forces in Victoria on Monday May 4 to hear a debate in the Legislature over the government’s handling of Adult Basic Education policy and funding choices. The group was at the Legislature to hear government and Opposition MLAs debate a motion calling for greater...

Open the Doors campaign May 4 event to s...

We know you’re a steadfast supporter of public education – and we need your help.On Monday May 4th, Kathy Corrigan, MLA for Burnaby-Deer Lake, will call for a vote to restore funding to Adult Basic Education (ABE) in BC. As you know, on December 4th, 2014 the government abruptly cancelled most funding for ABE and removed its mandate to be tuition-free. After May 1st, a...

CAPILANO FACULTY TAKE JOB ACTION

CAPILANO FACULTY TAKE JOB ACTION “Our bargaining team has spent the last 24 hours in mediation at the Labour Relations Board trying to get our employer to negotiate a fair settlement,” said Brent Calvert, President of the Capilano Faculty Association.  “But despite our best efforts, our employer has not budged,” Calvert added. ”We have said from the outset of our...

FPSE President’s Comment: Bill C-5...

Bill C-51 is a serious threat to post-secondary educators Although Ottawa is currently consumed with the details of Senator Mike Duffy’s trial, a far more serious legislative issue continues to work its way through Canada’s Parliament: Bill C-51, the Harper government’s anti-terrorism legislation. The Bill is an omnibus piece of legislation that will amend several statues and...

FPSE launches Open the Doors campaign

We’ve all seen how chronic underfunding of post-secondary education has affected our faculty, our students, and their families. Since 2001, per-student operating grants have dropped 20 percent in BC, and the burden has been passed to students and their families in the form of increased user fees, record levels of debt, and shrinking program opportunities. The provincial government...

IWD 2015: Women’s rights and workers’ ri...

It was at the turn of the 20th century that International Women’s Day (IWD) had its early beginnings in North America. At the time, it was part of a mobilizing effort by union and community activists who were demanding changes to the appalling working conditions in New York’s garment industry, an industry where women were the vast majority of the workforce and faced exploitive and...

FPSE brief: Budgets are about choices

Budgets are about choices and the 2015 BC budget is no exception in that department.  The frustration for post-secondary educators, their students and their institutions is that the choices made in this year’s budget fall well short of the priorities needed to improve conditions across the BC post-secondary education system. While the budget documents are required by law to include...

FPSE President’s Comment: Open to ...

JANUARY 29, 2015 www.fpse.ca Re-imagining post-secondary education: Opening to Learning Conference focuses on progressive alternatives When it was first proposed by convention delegates, the concept of a major conference on post-secondary education was envisioned as a way to begin changing the public debate on post-secondary education policy by bringing together a broad...

FPSE International Solidarity Grant appl...

On behalf of George Davison, Chair of the FPSE International Solidarity Fund Committee, please find the 2015 Call for Proposals for FPSE’s International Solidarity Fund attached. Also attached are the Fund’s Terms of Reference. These documents can also be found on the FPSE website: http://fpse.ca/committees/hrisc/isf. The deadline for applications is Friday, February 20, 2015 at...

ESL and ABE Students get a lump of coal ...

ESL and ABE Students get a lump of coal this Christmas DECEMBER 5, 2014 For almost a year the provincial government has been promising some news about its funding commitment to English Language Training programs across the province.  The news was supposed to address the glaring shortfall in provincially sourced support for ESL programs delivered by public post-secondary...

FPSE statement on 25th anniversary of Mo...

Remembering December 6, 1989 It’s a grim anniversary, but one that needs to be remembered. Twenty-five years ago, on December 6, 1989, fourteen women were murdered at the École Polytechnique de Montreal. Although the massacre is regarded by criminologists as an example of a hate crime against women, it is remembered in the broader community as a stark example of how violence against...

FPSE Enviromental Solidarity SpeakerR...

The Federation of Post-Secondary Educators’ Human Rights and International Solidarity Committee presents the Environmental Solidarity Speaker’s Tour, featuring Jacinda Mack. Jacinda Mack is the Mining Response Coordinator at the Northern Shuswap Tribal Council. Born and raised in Xat’sull, Jacinda is a community organizer who enjoys fishing, hunting, and harvesting...

FPSE Endorses Irene Lanzinger for BC Fed...

FPSE’s Presidents’ Council Endorses Irene Lanzinger for BC Fed President “The decision from our Local Presidents was unanimous; we are voting for Irene Lanzinger as President of the BC Federation of Labour,” said Cindy Oliver, President of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators.  “Irene has the track record of proven leadership and activism that our members want to see...