RE: Supplemental Fund Survey
CUPE Locals 917 and 951 have recently made changes to the Supplemental Fund. Previously, the Supplemental Fund was in place for 951 and 917 members to access when in need of extra hearing-aid or orthodontics. Locals 917 and 951 have made a recent decision to administer their portions of the fund separately.
Local 917 is seeking to expand access to the fund, to benefit a greater portion of our members. In the last round of negotiations, the Local also redirected funds from the Employee Wellness, Innovation and Training fund into the Supplemental Fund.
The current balance within the Local 917 Supplemental Fund is $161,250. Currently, every April 1st there is an additional $36,000 directed into the fund from the University. This is a result of recent negotiations, but the funds have not been accessed in any meaningful way for a number of years.
Local 917 is now seeking input from the membership to solicit ideas on fairly, responsibly and sustainably distributing the funds. The Supplemental Fund represents a taxable benefit and per LOU #11 needs to be linked to “service delivery improvements.” The Local has taken the position that anything that improves the wellness of our members leads to improved service delivery.
Please send your input and suggestions to suppfund@cupe917.ca. This survey will remain open until February 21st.
The Supplemental Fund sub-committee will then present a recommendation to the membership at an upcoming General Membership Meeting regarding how the funds can be spent, and what the individual and annual caps shall be for the upcoming year. Any decisions regarding the disbursement of funds shall be on a one-year trial basis and we shall review and make adjustments as needed moving forward.
In Solidarity,
CUPE 917 Supplemental Fund Committee
Paula Gough
Virgie Stewart
CUPE 917 President Shane Randall