Emergency Health Services Commission (EHSC)-BCGEU Labour Relations Board Decision

The Labour Relations Board agreed with our union’s submission and ruled that the EHSC-BCGEU stand alone Collective Agreement will remain intact and be appended to the Health Facilities Subsector Collective Agreement.  Our members are now a part of the Heath Facilities Subsector bargaining unit.

With the exception of the term of agreement, our members will continue to be covered under the existing terms of their stand alone collective agreement unless changes are agreed to in bargaining.  The EHSC BCGEU agreement will expire on March 31, 2012.

This ruling is contained in a decision that impacts both CUPE 873 – Ambulance Paramedics and BCGEU members. The only part of the BCGEU Collective Agreement that was amended is the term of the Collective Agreement.

In addition this ruling confirms that, "employees of Emergency Health Services Commission (EHSC) represented by the BCGEU and CUPE 873 are in the Facilities Unit”.

The decision states that, “the Board orders the Health Employers Association of British Columbia (HEABC) and Facilities Bargaining Association (FBA) to attach the terms of the Local 873 Collective Agreement and the terms of the BCGEU Collective Agreement as separate appendices to the FBA Collective Agreement. This order is subject only to the need to align the expiry date of the Local 873 Collective Agreement and the expiry date of the BCGEU Collective Agreement with the expiry date of the FBA Collective Agreement, as the respective appendices will now form part of the single FBA Collective Agreement”.

“I further declare that changes to terms and conditions of the Local 873 and BCGEU appendices will be subject to good faith bargaining mandated by the Code”.

“Consequently, the FBA is not subject to a positive duty to integrate terms and conditions of employment found under the respective appendices with terms of the FBA Collective Agreement. The question of integrating those terms is a matter for the parties to address in the ordinary course of the collective bargaining process”.

This means that BCGEU members will continue to enjoy the wages and benefits that are found in their current collective agreement.

Thank you for your patience and continued support throughout this very lengthy process.

In solidarity

Lori Strom, Staff Representative
David Streb, Coordinator - Negotiations

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