Dear members,
I know that we still have a lot of staff on campus working to “keep the lights on” and the organization running, as we continue the mission of the University to provide world-class education for our students. We very much appreciate your work and understand the challenges and concerns you have in order to be able to do your work and maintain the physical distancing that is being asked of all Canadians. Please reach out to us if you have any concerns you would like to share. I would be pleased to hear from members still on campus just to let me know what kind of work you are being asked to do and what kinds of safety precautions have been put in place.
As we move forward into this new working reality, other questions are beginning to arise. Some issues we are discussing with Administration: What happens with parking and GRT passes if we continue working from home? Will there be any change in how vacation carry forwards are handled? What happens with emergency leave for those who are handling child care issues and unable to work at home? What is the impact of Ontario’s announcement to close all non-essential workplaces?
I would also like you to know that the work of the UWSA is very much continuing. Our Board has been meeting together using Teams. We’ve worked out protocols for holding our Board meetings remotely. We continue to work on cases for our members, supporting them.
Finally, I wanted to pass along a wonderful note of support from our colleagues in FAUW on Friday. We posted this in our Facebook on Friday, but we recognize that many members may not use Facebook. Please see the message below. Also, I would like to encourage our Area Reps to pass this message and other messages from the UWSA to their staff colleagues who may not be UWSA members and not see these messages.
May you and your loved ones keep well,
Your UWSA team,
Lawrence Folland, President, Cell: 226-218-1822, lfolland@uwaterloo.ca
Gail Spencer, Executive Manager, gspencer@uwaterloo.ca
Cathy Bolger, Communications and Administrative Coordinator, lbolger@uwaterloo.ca
General mailbox, uwsa@uwaterloo.ca
Dear UWSA and CUPE colleagues,
We are writing to express our gratitude to you for all you are doing to support our members and our students during this unprecedented crisis.
We know that many of you are working overtime to keep things running smoothly and to help make the university safe and supportive for all of its members. We are aware too that many of you are doing this work while juggling childcare and other family and community responsibilities.
Thank you for your courage, tenacity, creativity and hard work. There would be no University of Waterloo without you.
In gratitude and respect,
Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW)
Bryan Tolson, PhD
President, Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo
