VANCOUVER—Three days of intense bargaining has produced a provincial framework deal for some  CUPE college support workers. The template for agreement was reached late Sunday night by the College and Institutes Support Staff Bargaining Association (CISSBA) and the government’s BC Post Secondary Employers' Association.

"This progress is a direct result of our coordinated job actions at Vancouver Island University, the College of New Caledonia, the College of the Rockies, North Island College and Camosun College," said CUPE Local 1858 (VIU) President Deborah Hopper. "The ongoing unified actions by our collective team of institutions, including our two-day strikes, departmental shutdowns, rallies, and campus watch-dogging, kept the government serious in their work with us over those three long days of bargaining."

The CUPE Colleges Bargaining Committee (CCBC) was at the table representing more than 3,000 college support workers across the province.  Also at the table as part of the CISSBA were representatives of the BC Government & Service Employees’ Union and the Canadian Union of Office & Professional Employees.  CUPE also represents workers at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Langara College and Vancouver Community College through locals which were not involved in the weekend negotiations.