We are pleased to confirm the details of the ratification information meetings and to provide the complete ratification document you'll be voting on.

Ratification Information Meetings

Ratification information meetings will be held as follows:

- Friday, June 3^rd – Cariboo Place – 10am to 11:30am

- Saturday, June 4^th – Mount Ida Mews – 9am to 10:30am

- Saturday, June 4^th – Monashee Mews – 1pm to 2:30pm

- Saturday, June 4^th – Brandt's Creek Mews – 4:30pm to 6pm

Please attend the meeting at your worksite if you can. However, all of the meetings will be open to members from all sites using Zoom videoconference or conference call. Note that you will need your supervisor's permission to attend a meeting during your working hours. If you do not receive permission to attend during your working hours, please attend one of the meetings that falls outside of your working hours.

To participate in any of the meetings using Zoom videoconference or conference call, check your email for login and phone-in details or contact a steward or bargaining committee member. Your local BCGEU Area Office can assist if you don't have contact info for a steward or bargaining committee member.

If you are new to using Zoom, we encourage you to learn more about Zoom well in advance. If you do not have a computer, or if your computer doesn't have a webcam, speakers and microphone or if you have difficultly joining the meeting by computer, the phone-in option is probably best.

Ratification Document

When you vote, you will be voting on whether to accept the entire tentative agreement contained in the ratification document. The ratification document is more than 60 pages long and we will only speak to the highlights in the meetings. It is very important that you read the entire ratification document in advance so you can understand everything you are voting on, and so you can ask any questions you have at the meetings. Your bargaining committee strongly recommends that you vote "yes" to accept the new agreement.

A reminder of the highlights of the tentative agreement:

- Term ending December 31, 2023, unless the government ends wage levelling. If the government ends wage levelling before that date, the agreement expires when wage levelling ends and the parties promptly start new negotiations over wages. (To be clear, government has repeatedly promised that wage levelling will be made permanent, so we do not expect wage levelling to end. In other words, we fully except you will continue to be paid the same public sector rates paid by the health authorities and have built in this safety measure just in case.)

- Signing bonus of 3.4% of regular earnings from August 1, 2021 to June 4, 2022

- New voluntary group RRSP, with up to 3% matching contributions depending on length of service

- New orientation premium of $1.25 per hour when orienting a new employee

- New - annual professional registration fees paid for regular nurses: RNs & RPNs - $200/year | LPNs $150/year

- New 'wellness day' - one day per year of paid discretionary leave

- Change from Paid Time Off (PTO) to separate vacation, paid holiday and sick leave categories for regular employees - with entitlement improvements

• PTO was a messy combination of three categories of leave that totalled approximately 32 days per year, with no increases based on years of service
• New language amounts to an increase of 10 days in total available paid leave, now restructured as follows:
• Sick leave – 10 days
• Paid holidays – 12 days
• Annual vacation – 10 days in first 3 years | 15 days in years 4 to 7 | 20 days in year 8 and beyond

- Shift premiums

• Afternoon premium increased from $0.50/hour to $1.00/hour
• Night premium increased from $0.50/hour to $1.25/hour
• New weekend premium of $1.25/hour
• Premiums are stackable

- Health and welfare benefit plan improvements

• Paramedical annual combined max increased from $1,000 to $1,500
• Paramedical max per practitioner type increased from $500 to $600
• Annual eye exam amount increased from $70 to $100
• Glasses/lenses amount increased from $150 to $250 every 24 months
• Prescription drug dispensing fee coverage increased from $7.50 to $10
• Major dental coverage increased from 50% to 70%, and combined annual dental max increased from $1,500 to $2,000
• New - benefits (excluding LTD) continue at employer's expense for duration of leave for WCB-compensable injury
• Existing benefit levels enshrined as minimum

- Increased percentage paid to casual employees in lieu of vacation - had been 4% in lieu of PTO, and is now 4% in first 3 years, 6% in years 4 to 7 and 8% in year 8 and beyond

- Casuals covered by paid holiday language

- Employer to cover cost of criminal record check renewals for existing employees

- Nurses get recognition of prior service for placement on wage grid step upon hire

- Daily and weekly overtime for part-time regular and casual employees now clearly applies after 7.5 hours daily or 37.5 hours weekly (unless covering an extended-hour shift for more than seven calendar days, in which case extended-hour shift OT provisions apply)

- Significant non-monetary improvements, clarification of language, etc.

Voting Information [**Revised**]

On or before the morning of Thursday, June 9^th, we will email you a link to vote online and your unique voting credential. Voting will open on Thursday, June 9, 2022 at 8:30 AM and will close on Friday, June 10, 2022 at 5:00 PM. Please participate and vote. This is the only method for casting a ballot.

The voting credential will be emailed to you from [email protected]. Please add this email address as a contact or approved sender in your email client-this will help ensure the credential is delivered to your inbox.

All employees of AgeCare in the bargaining unit represented by the BCGEU are eligible to vote on ratification regardless of whether you have completed a BCGEU membership application.

An employee without a personal email address may request the assistance of a bargaining committee member to help set one up.

Not Getting Email from the BCGEU?

If you or a co-worker does not receive these bulletins directly from the BCGEU, it probably means we don't have a current personal email address on file. If this is you, please log in or create an account on the BCGEU Member Portal ASAP to update your contact information.

We look forward to meeting with you later this week and reviewing the highlights of the tentative agreement with you. Again, we strongly recommend that you vote "yes" to accept the new agreement.

In solidarity,

Tina Campbell, Bargaining Committee Chair
Heather de Lange, Bargaining Committee Member
Colleen Sarrazin, Bargaining Committee Member
Ryan Stewart, Staff Representative, Negotiations

Download PDF copy of the ratification document