I arrived a bit early for CFUV's general meeting tonight and, outside the door of the room we would be occupying, saw various documentation photocopied and available for pick up. I was thinking that I should read my emails more carefully, I didn't remember reading that our meeting was an AGM, and then I began to wonder why would CFUV be reviewing the UVSS budget?It turned out that the UVSS, the student society at UVic, was having their AGM. They'd been having it since 3 that afternoon and we were booked into the room at 6:30. It was approaching 7. I perused the agenda - there was no mention of the strike that's now in its 7th week. Workers inside the student union building, which is managed by the UVSS and their staff, are asking for the first pay raise in many years.
I looked more closely at the financials. Why would they be approving a budget when the strike isn't even on their agenda, and certainly isn't resolved? What the !??!!?? I thought, and then I spotted Craig, host of Friday morning's radio show with the same name. If you listen to his show you'd never guess that he's a numbers kinda guy. I thrust the budget into Craig's hands and asked him to please figure out how to resolve the strike.
Our GM was called to order, and I noticed Craig flipping through the pages as we discussed important matters like who would be our student representatives on the board. None of the people nominated were at the meeting so a few of us abstained from electing them.
Near the end of the meeting Medhi put forward a motion: CFUV requests that the strike be considered urgent, and that the UVSS resolve it quickly, fairly, and justly. I seconded the motion. Christine, a CFUV programmer and also UVSS Director of Services, affirmed the fact that the strike was not on the UVSS agenda but assured us that they had discussed it a lot. She also said that the budget was not passed at today's meeting. Christine and one other person voted against Medhi's motion for a speedy resolution to the strike, and there were a small number of abstentions, but most of us were in favour.
After the meeting, many of us were talking about the strike - it's affecting how CFUV functions. Craig's interpretation of the numbers indicated that the student services (subtext, zap, graphics, Cinecenta, food services, etc.), the people asking for an increase in pay, appear to be self sufficient financially - no problem there. Craig also noticed that the actual running of the building, the administration, accounting, and UVSS board, costs about a million dollars a year. He suggested that seems a lot of money. Apparently the four elected board members - the Chair, the Director of Academics, the Director of Finance, and the Director of Services - earn about $25,000 each. The building manager's salary is about $70,000. I don't know how many people work in the office aside from that. The cleaning and security is the responsibility of UVic, and isn't paid by the UVSS.
What's not mentioned in the financials, is the Capital account. CFUV also has a Capital account. It's like a savings account, a slush fund for emergencies. It's speculated that the UVSS Capital fund is likely in the millions of dollars, and that money could be moved over to provide the wage increase that the student workers are requesting.
I also learned that, through the years, the UVSS has not been very good about bookkeeping. Aside from the guy who ran away with the money and the scandal at Felicitas (and wasn't Esquimalt/Juan de Fuca federal Conservative candidate Troy de Souza the UVSS Chair during some of those years?), CFUV has been inappropriately charged for phone lines we don't use, rooms we don't meet in, and we pay energy costs for not only our own space but also for the for-profit businesses that operate out of the building. At one time there was an approximately $6,000 incorrect charge for photocopying and if not for the steady eye of our station manager, various other erroneous charges would have been paid by our little radio station.
If CFUV wants to rent one of the meeting rooms down the hall, we can do that for no charge. But that same room will be rented for a fee to outside groups. That seems reasonable, but here's the clincher --- if a paying customer wants the room, we get bumped. That doesn't seem very neighbourly.
It's cold, and rainy, and the picket line is now in its 7th week. They want fair wages for the workers. I say move the money from the capital fund, quit ripping off the non-profits in the building and get the for-profits to pay their fair share, leave your fat egos at the door, and behave responsibly to end this strike.
Here's the emails for the UVSS board of directors:
finance@uvss.uvic.ca, services@uvss.uvic.ca, academics@uvss.uvic.ca, chair@uvss.uvic.ca
addendum: information gathered after writing this post:
1) We were overcharged by about $3,000 in photocopying over several years.
The UVSS credited us for the error. There were also some errors around GST
credits that had to be corrected. The current book-keeper for the UVSS is
excellent so I've had far fewer errors to correct in the last few years, but
she is currently on the picket line.
2) I'm not sure how much the UVSS actually has in the Ewing Fund, which is
where 1/2 of their $13 Building Fund fee goes each year (i.e. $6.50 a
student each term). It would be listed in the end notes of the UVSS
financial statements from last year.
The Ewing Fund was not listed in the draft statements available at the GM
since they had not been audited by the UVSS accountants.
The UVSS says the accountants cannot complete the statements until they have
reached an agreement with the Union as any retroactive pay to union members
would have be included in the previous year's statements.
3) The actual salary of the General Manager could be confirmed by a union
representative, I've only heard hearsay on that matter.
4) UVic charges the UVSS approx. half of the total Triple Net cost
(utilities, janitorial and hydro) for the operation of the SUB. So the UVSS
and all the student groups are charged this amount. There are disputes about
the manner in which this Triple Net amount is calculated, and whether it
should even be charged to student groups.
