Union agrees to two-year pact

UW and its unionized staff members — represented by Canadian Union of Public Employees local 793 — have ratified a two-year labour agreement, Neil Murray of the human resources department has announced.

He said the agreement, reached by negotiators June 30, was ratified by members of the union in mid-July and has now received approval on behalf of the employer. That approval came from the executive committee of the board of governors, the university secretariat says.

The agreement is retroactive to May 1, since the previous agreement with CUPE expired April 30. It provides for a 3.2 per cent across-the-board wage increase effective May 1 this year and a similar increase on May 1, 2007. That's the same figure that was the "range adjustment" in the settlement with non-union staff reached earlier this year, and the "scale adjustment" for faculty members as well — although comparisons of the three employee groups are difficult because the salary systems are very different.

CUPE members at UW work on a "one-rate" system — the same hourly rate for everybody in a given job classification. The union local represents about 300 full-time staff, and some part-timers, in the plant operations and food services departments.

The 2006-08 contract includes creation of some new position titles (including "roofing mechanic" and "stationary engineer 4th class"), new position descriptions, revised overtime guidelines, and new figures for the employer's share of the cost of safety boots and safety glasses.

Murray said union members can look forward to seeing their new wage rates reflected in the biweekly pay that they receive on September 1. Retroactive payment for the weeks since May 1 will be included in that pay as well, he said.

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Nuclear firm funds hydrogen study

Bruce Power — the company that operates two nuclear generating stations beside Lake Huron northwest of Waterloo — has announced a $75,000 “partnership” with UW researchers to study the commercialization of hydrogen, “the fuel of the future”.

The company said it will establish the Bruce Power Hydrogen Economy Development Study, which will begin in January and will see graduate students at UW “analyze a wide array of key technical and policy areas required to move Ontario's hydrogen economy forward”.

The Canadian Hydrogen Association and The Hydrogen Village “have also joined as strategic partners of the new program”, Bruce said.

"It is our view that hydrogen will be the fuel of the future, and it makes perfect sense that some of our future leaders will help its development," said Duncan Hawthorne, Bruce Power's president. "By working closely with the University of Waterloo, I believe we can take a leadership role in understanding the many complex issues surrounding hydrogen commercialization and move forward together."

The company said the first area of focus will be examining off-peak hydrogen production from nuclear power and distributive electricity generation. “The company will now work with UW to secure additional funding from business, labour and government while the scope and size of the program is finalized over the next several months.”

The key person at UW is Michael Fowler, a faculty member in chemical engineering who will co-ordinate a number of faculty members to supervise students during their hydrogen economy research.

"Waterloo is excited that Bruce Power has taken the lead to launch such a breakthrough initiative,” Fowler said. "Developing Ontario's hydrogen economy will require strategic investments to ensure we create the capability to move this sector forward. Clean hydrogen technology and clean nuclear power are a powerful combination for addressing our air quality and climate change issues."

He said he anticipates that the hydrogen program will the environmental studies faculty and the electrical and computer engineering department as well as chem eng.

Said Ry Smith of Hydrogen Village: “We are very excited about the leadership Bruce Power is taking with the establishment of this study at the University of Waterloo. Our organization was developed to create markets for hydrogen and fuel cell technology. This program will start to develop the capability to support these emerging markets. There is no doubt that nuclear is an essential piece of a secure, comprehensive and clean electricity mix to support future hydrogen production."

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Staff retirements are noted

A number of UW staff members are winding up their careers this summer, according to listings from the human resources department:

• Danica Barbu retired August 1 from her job as a custodian in plant operations. She's been a member of UW's staff since November 1979.

• Jose Pereira, also a plant ops custodian, will retire September 1. He has been working at UW since August 1987.

• Aline Lauzon will retire September 1 from her job as a catalogue associate in the UW library. She started work in the cataloguing department in December 1969.

• Donald Bishop retires September 1 after serving as a kitchen porter in the food services department since September 1988.

• Lianxiang Wang will retire September 1, again from a job as kitchen porter in food services; Wang has been at UW since January 2001.

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