The Latest News section contains news items from the past 30-60 days, plus items of ongoing current concern.
Older items have been archived under appropriate “News Archive” headings.
“Seek & ye shall find.”
ANNOUNCEMENT
LATEST ELECTION NEWS-ROLAND VISPO ELECTED AS 3 YEAR TRUSTEE!
Copy of 2023 2024 CUPE Seniority Report October_sorted by seniority with new membersNO ADDRESS PHONE
Scholarship – CUPE Local 520 Post-Secondary Scholarship Application
The CUPE Local 520 Yearly Post-Secondary Scholarship is open for applications, with each year’s applications due no later than August 31.
The $1400 scholarship is open to Members or children of Members who are attending any accredited post-secondary institution.
APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER MIDNIGHT ON AUGUST 31 WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Applications received near the deadline need to be complete with all required components submitted by midnight on August 31.
There is always an entire year in which to apply. Accepting late applications is unfair to those Members who apply in a timely manner.
Download your copy of the application form below.
Post-Secondary-Scholarship-Application.pdf – Copy
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Email us @ cupe520@shaw.ca
Visit us online @ www.cupe520.ca
* LATEST NEWS *
Nov 5, 2023 NEXT MEETING NOTICE
CUPE 520 RMM November 18, 2023 Father Lacombe High School. Time TBA.
Apr 21,2022: April 19th heavy snowfall
A reminder of an item that was posted last year.
- Jan 13,2021: December 22nd heavy snowfall: Questions have come forward about December’s heavy snowfall & observations made to the effect of “had school been in session, the District would’ve likely declared a snow day”. To be clear, no. The District does not close Calgary schools due to snow & hasn’t for at least the past 15 years. On occasion, some rural schools in the District have closed in the past due to rural bussing issues…but in city schools have always remained open. If you have difficulty getting to work, it is your responsibility to deal with the absence ON THAT DAY either online or by contacting your supervisor or Caretaking Services. Although we can appreciate individual circumstances, if you cannot be at work & expect to be paid, you need to book off the time SOMEHOW. It is not fair to the vast majority of workers who did make it to work for some to expect a “free” day off, for some reason. Again, this needs to be dealt with immediately after the absence. There are very limited options available when it is brought forward weeks later.
Apr 11,2022: April Labour Management Meeting
Over the past 30 days, the L520 Executive have dealt with several items through direct consultation with District management & participation in H&S Committee & JHSC meetings, all of which have been reported here.
As the District has no new items to bring to the table (a good thing…great job, everyone), we will be cancelling this month’s LMM.
The next LMM is scheduled for May 26.
See the Homepage of this website for details regarding regularly scheduled LMMs.
Apr 10,2022: Personal Medical Information
An observation came from a Member this week that they were uncomfortable about being asked about the reason for their sick day or details about medical appointments.
To be clear, the Union has no power to stop someone from asking you a question. However, you must decide whether or not you wish to divulge that information. If you feel that any medical information asked of you is of concern to you regarding your personal privacy, it is up to you to make that determination & state it as such. You are under no obligation to disclose personal medical information for any reason but it is only you that can make that determination.
If you refuse to divulge personal medical information & a member of management attempts to discipline you for that action, the Union then has cause to intervene.
Apr 10,2022: Coverage of Dayshift Caretakers “courtesy” Request
Caretaking Supervisors were reminded this week that the “courtesy” of dayshift Caretakers asking if their evening counterparts can be available to cover dayshift absences is precisely that…a courtesy. It is not now nor ever has been a requirement of custodial staff to arrange for their relief coverage. It is a function of management to so do.
Apr 10,2022: District Review of COVID Protocols
Senior District Management continues to review remaining COVID-19 protocols on an ongoing basis.
This past week, Caretakers should have received notification from Caretaking Supervisors of the cessation of the requirement to record daily sanitization times on their Boiler Logs & other documents.
Apr 10,2022: Classroom Area Rugs
A reminder from the Members at April’s RMM that in-classroom area rugs (returning to service during this endemic period) may need to be vacuumed as often as nightly. However, the machinery & products used by the District to shampoo these rugs are not adequate to completely sanitize them. Custodial staff should not attempt to clean in-classroom area rugs with the District’s carpet extraction machines.
Area rugs that require deeper cleaning than vacuuming need to be sent to the approved contractor by school Admin at the school’s expense.
A copy of the original memo regarding this issue will be available through L520’s Safety Chair & Committee.
Mar 28,2022: “unbroken vacation period”
The following excerpt is from the 2022 vacation request memo: “Annual vacation must be taken in an unbroken period during the months of July and August, as per clause 16.5 of the Collective Agreement”
This is the actual clause from our CA: “16.5…Employees, except those in Group II of Appendix “B” to this Agreement, are entitled to an unbroken vacation period during the months of July and August…”
The District’s interpretation of “unbroken vacation period” is slightly different than we expected.
The expectation is that “unbroken” means “whole weeks”, particularly during the in-lieu weeks. For example, you couldn’t be off for a week & a half, come back to work on Wednesday, & expect to be off “in-lieu” on Friday as you haven’t worked the required extra hours on Monday & Tuesday.
There is no problem having more than one vacation period during the summer (for example 2 weeks at the beginning of July & 1 week in mid-August), as long as they are whole weeks.
We are told that there shouldn’t be any issue with single days (even during in-lieu weeks) if needed for one-off issues (eg “I’m going out of town for a wedding & I need Monday off”).
Anybody having any issues outside of these parameters should contact an L520 Executive Member & we’ll see what we can do.