Bargaining Update for BCGEU members who work for B.C. Government

Component Bargaining Update for the week of January 23-27, 2012

Component bargaining committees negotiate provisions contained in Component Agreements AND additional items the employer and union agree should be delegated to the component.

Component One (Corrections & Sheriff Services)
We’re scheduled to meet with the employer until February 3, 2012. This week, we reached agreement with the employer on several non-monetary provisions. We’re pleased with the willingness of the employer to come to those agreements. We’re also pleased the employer hasn’t proposed any change that’s offensive or concessionary to the component agreement.

But we’re upset the employer hasn’t been given any mandate to negotiate improvement to the component agreement that involves any cost or monetary increase. We’ve asked the employer to go back and get a new mandate that allows the parties to negotiate a fair collective agreement.

Bargaining team members are: Dean Purdy, Mike Scott, Peter Clegg, Derrick Goodwin, John Silvester, Tony Tessari, Robin Lajeunesse, and Wiho Papenbrock.

Component Two (Hospital & Allied Services)
Bargaining this week has been respectful and cordial, although progress has been slow. The employer's committee was attentive to our proposals and acknowledged the amount of thought and work the union had put into our package.

We reached agreement on some minor housekeeping issues.

We were disappointed when the employer informed us that while they could talk about our monetary proposals, that included improvements to various premiums and allowances, there’s no new money. They told us we would have to find the funding elsewhere in the agreement to pay for them.

We reinforced the importance of investing in workers in Component 2 who provide critical services to residents, clients and patients under oftentimes very difficult conditions.
 
Members of the union's Component 2 bargaining committee are: Susanne Francoeur (Chair), Neil Macpherson, Bhajan Tathgar, Audrey Todd, Kim Keys, and Carol Adams (Negotiator).

Component Five (Retail Stores & Warehouse)
The parties exchanged a full package of proposals this week. Your bargaining committee identified member concerns regarding employee transfers, transfer of stewards, vacation scheduling, seniority lists, and a number of other proposals identified by locals.

We’ve reached agreement on a number of housekeeping items and will discuss other issues next week. We’re scheduled to meet Tuesday through Friday and hope to provide a full report at that time.

Component 5 bargaining committee members: Craig MacKay (Chair), Kimberlee MacGregor, Brenda Vaillancourt, Keith Stone, and Margie Edmondson, Sheila Puga (negotiator).

Component Six (Social, Information & Health)
Bargaining for Component 6 members commenced January 23, 2012 in Victoria. The parties met and exchanged a full package of proposals. Bargaining continued all week. Your bargaining committee identified member concerns about increased and unmanageable workloads, and lack of backfill support for temporary absences.

We’re scheduled to meet every day next week. We hope to report progress at the table on the workload issues and other Component 6 major concerns.

Component 6 bargaining committee members: Doug Kinna (Chair), Sue Powell, Sonya Haigh, Matt Salli, Roxanne Round, Judy Fox McGuire, and Catherine Sullivan (Negotiator).

Component 12 (Administrative Services)
Bargaining is being conducted in a positive, respectful and courteous manner.  We’ve exchanged proposals on a wide range of issues and have had in-depth discussions. We’ve been successful in concluding several non-monetary provisions.

As with the other tables, the employer is refusing to negotiate monetary items, including proposed increases to allowances and premiums.

A key issue for us has been addressing long-standing inequities. The committee is optimistic we’ll reach some resolution. Significant headway has been made on negotiating seniority blocks and units.

Bargaining is scheduled to resume on Monday January 30, 2012 in Vancouver

Your Component 12 bargaining committee comprises of: Sandi McLean (Chair), Lori Joaquin (1st Vice), Sussanne Skidmore (recorder), Russell Katzer (Member at large), and Chris Anderson (Staff).

 

Component 20 (Environmental, Technical and Operational Services)
We commenced bargaining January 23 in Victoria. The exchanges have been professional on both sides. This week, we concluded some minor non-monetary matters. Both sides are fully engaged in reviewing and responding to a number of other matters. However, the employers’ committee has advised us they have no mandate from their principals at the Master Table to discuss proposals costing money. This affects all of the allowances set out in the component agreement.

We will continue bargaining next week.

Your Component 20 bargaining committee consists of: Byron Goerz (Component Chair), George Butcher (Environment), George Buis (Conservation Officer), Robert Davis (Agriculture), Ken MacKenzie (CVSE), and Gary Hall (Staff Negotiator).