BC

Several post-secondary institutions around Metro Vancouver are facing picket lines today as unionized staff seek new contracts.

Simon Fraser University's Teaching Support Staff Union is beginning a week of job action that it says will include teach-ins, protests and pickets, although classes are expected to continue.

Union members say they have been negotiating for more than two years but SFU is the only remaining university in the province that has not reached a deal with its campus workers.

Meanwhile, day-long walkouts will shut down all campuses of the B.C. Institute of Technology and Vancouver Community College.

BCIT's Faculty and Staff Union says its 1,400 members have not had a wage increase in four years, while CUPE support staff at VCC are holding out for a four per cent hike in a two year contract.

Classes at BCIT and VCC are expected to resume Tuesday, although bans on overtime remain in effect at both facilities.