A message from Andrew Szeri, Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver and Barbara Meens Thistle, Vice-President, Human Resources
Coast Mountain Bus Company transit workers and SeaBus operators are continuing their job action, with a complete bus and SeaBus system shutdown due to take place from November 27-29 (subject to an agreement not being reached before then).
Although strike activity is ongoing, the university is operating as normal. Classes are proceeding and faculty and staff are expected to attend work.
We recognize the disruption caused by this ongoing action, and would like to thank you for your effort to minimize the impact. We have heard anecdotally that many teams have already introduced carpooling plans.
We anticipate that many who have the ability to do so, will be opting to drive to campus during the transit strike. Unfortunately, UBC Vancouver does not have sufficient parking spaces to accommodate all students, faculty and staff.
In light of this, we want to encourage managers to fully explore the possibility of having staff telecommute during the dates of the system shutdown — November 27-29 — provided it is within the telecommuting guidelines. View the guidelines.
By reducing the number of staff driving to campus, we will hopefully free up parking spaces for those who require them. We understand that not all staff can work remotely, but we believe this is one way to ease some of the pressure on our parking facilities during these dates. If unionized staff are able to work remotely, their manager should contact their Human Resources representative.
As a reminder, staff who do telecommute should only connect to the VPN when working on resources that require a VPN connection. For those who are travelling to UBC Vancouver later this week, useful resources related to carpooling and biking are available.
For further support, please contact your Human Resources representative.