Settlement agreement reached with government on Bill 29 court ruling

Unions representing 40,000 B.C. health care workers announced a settlement agreement with the provincial government today, following months of negotiation to implement the Supreme Court of Canada ruling on Bill 29 last June. The agreement includes compensation, retraining and expanded rights for workers affected by contracting out.

Highlights of the settlement include financial compensation for workers who have suffered harm from contracting out, re-training opportunities, enhanced severance and retirement provisions, expanded rights to bid on jobs province-wide, and a commitment to meaningful consultation on outsourcing.

"These agreements conclude a six year struggle by working people to have their constitutional rights respected by the provincial government," said BCGEU president George Heyman. "This is a significant victory for our members. Through negotiations which the Supreme Court of Canada said should have taken place six years ago, we have won compensation, training and job opportunities for members who were negatively impacted by contracting out.

"The Supreme Court decision and these negotiations ensure that governments can no longer overturn collective agreements without significant consequences."

Union negotiators for the Community Bargaining Association (CBA), Facilities Bargaining Association (FBA), Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association (HSPBA) and the Nurses Bargaining Association (NBA) reached agreements over the weekend to settle more than 3000 outstanding grievances following the implementation of Bill 29 - which removed rights to seniority and job protection as health services were contracted out across B.C.

The settlement agreements affect approximately 9,000 BCGEU members in the Community Bargaining Association, some 3,000 members in the facilities sector, along with approximately 1,200 members in the Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association. Main elements of the settlement agreements include:

• Community Bargaining Association members
  
• Doubled severance for workers impacted by contracting out - including one week of severance for every year of service, compared to one week for two years previously.
• $4 million lump sum payment -- $1.5 million for compensation to impacted individuals, and $2.5 million for retraining and mitigation.
• An obligation for employers to engage in meaningful "good faith" consultation and proper notification of future contracting out, and opportunity to propose alternatives to contracting out and labour adjustment measures for affected workers.
• Expanded rights to bidding for health sector jobs across all 6 health authorities in the province, and reimbursement of relocation expenses up to an agreed amount.
• Restoration of service and seniority rights for members whose jobs are returned to direct service.
• Download PDF version of CBA Agreement
  
  
• Facilities Bargaining Association members:
• Maintenance of a 700 FTE cap on contracting out, to now be governed by the grievance and arbitration process.
• Removal of legislative restrictions on collective bargaining that are inconsistent with the agreement.
•  $70 million in compensation payments to health care workers impacted by past contracting out actions under Bill 29 (including $2 million for retraining).
• $5 million to retrain workers laid off as a result of future contracting out.
•  Expanded rights to bidding for health sector jobs across all 6 health authorities in the province.
• Union consultation on future plans to contract out services or retender services already contracted out, and opportunity to propose alternatives to contracting out and labour adjustment measures for affected workers.
• Download PDF version of FBA Agreement
  
  
• Health Science Professionals Bargaining Association members:
  
• A $3 million one time payout that compensates members impacted by Bill 29, and the establishment of an educational fund for health science professionals covered by the HSPBA contract.
•  A new process for consultation between HSPBA, health authorities and the Ministry of Health on human resources planning and other strategic initiatives.
• An expedited arbitration process for classification grievances.
• A correction of the "promotional glitch" for temporary employees.
• Download PDF version of HSPBA Agreement
  

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Contact: Chris Bradshaw, Communications Officer, 604-473-5405