This bulletin contains important information affecting your rights. Please review the information under each of the bulletin headings.

Tentative Agreement Reached

Your bargaining committee for CareCorp Senior Services is pleased to report that it has reached a tentative renewal agreement with the Employer. This agreement provides significant gains for employees, and your bargaining committee unanimously encourages you to vote "yes" to accept it.

Tentative Agreement Highlights

Monetary highlights include:

• Term of three years, from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2026
• Health and welfare benefit plan improvements:
  • Employer-paid share of premiums increased by 10 percentage points to 60%
  • Eyeglasses/lenses amount increased by $20 to $320/24 months
  • Paramedical coverage-each category increased by $50 to $350/year
  • Dental coverage increased by $50 to $1,750/year
• New registered retirement savings plan (RRSP)-voluntary, with Employer-matched contributions at 1%, available to employees with at least five years' service
• Additional days of vacation: increase of one day to 16 days in third to fifth years of employment, and increase of one day to 21 days in sixth to 11^th years of employment
• New weekend shift premium of 15¢/hour and night shift premium increased by 15¢ to 85¢/hour
• Sick leave increased by 4.5 hours to 52.5 hours/year (seven days at 7.5 hours)
• Overtime will be paid on a paid holiday based on the paid holiday premium rate (used to be no OT applied on top of the premium rate)

Note that wages were not subject to negotiations in this round as all positions are covered by provincially mandated wage levelling to HEABC sectoral wage rates.

Non-monetary highlights include:

• All regular employees may decline OT except in case of emergency (used to be only full-time regulars who could decline)
• New restrictions on electronic monitoring of employees in resident rooms
• Improved vacation scheduling process language
• Improved harassment and bullying language
• Strengthened language re. contracting out
• New workload prioritization language
• New gender transition leave language
• New unpaid leave for emergency responders
• New access without loss of pay to critical incident stress debriefing (used to be only defusing)
• Improved notification in advance of investigative meeting, including of right to choose steward
• Letters of expectation removed from file, by employee request, after 18 months

Tentative Agreement 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 lengthy, and we will only speak to the highlights in the meeting. 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 meeting.

Ratification Information Meetings

All employees are strongly encouraged to attend one of the ratification information meetings. If you cannot attend a meeting, please speak with a member of the bargaining committee before you vote.

Date: Wednesday, March 19^th, 2025

Time: Meeting 1: 1:15 PM to 2:45 PM

Meeting 2: 3:15 PM to 4:45 PM

Where: Cerwydden Seniors Community – First Floor Activity Room

3243 Cowichan Lake Road, Duncan

(Note: No in-person option for Piccadilly-Zoom only)

Or: Zoom Videoconference or Teleconference

Videoconference (by computer): Join Zoom Meeting

Teleconference (by phone): Call 1-778-907-2071

Meeting ID: 885 4176 7337

Passcode: 768541

If you are new to using Zoom, please familiarize yourself with how to join a Zoom meeting.

Voting Information

Next Wednesday at the end of the second ratification information meeting, we will email you a link to vote online and your unique voting credential. Voting will open on Wednesday, March 19, 2025 at 4:45 PM and will close on Friday, March 21, 2025 at 3:00 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 CareCorp Senior Services (Cerwydden and Piccadilly) in the bargaining unit represented by the BCGEU are eligible to vote on ratification. Results will be combined with those from the HEU-represented site (Mountain Lake) and a single result will be announced.

Vote Troubleshooting

If you do not receive a voting credential, check your email junk/spam and quarantine folders. If you still do not have a voting credential after checking those folders, this is likely because the BCGEU does not have your personal email address. If this is you, or if you experience problems casting your vote, contact the BCGEU Negotiations Department at [email protected] (preferred), or by calling 604-291-9611 or toll-free 1-800-663-1674, ASAP after voting opens and by no later than Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 3:00 PM. This will allow enough time for problems to be addressed before voting closes. Support is available only during regular BCGEU office hours.

Again, your bargaining committee recommends that you vote "yes" to accept the new agreement.

In solidarity

Godwin Amega, Bargaining Committee Chair

Laurie Johnson, Bargaining Committee Member

Tina Whitney, Bargaining Committee Member

Ryan Stewart, Staff Representative, Negotiations

Download a PDF of this bulletin

Download a PDF of the ratification document

UWU/MoveUP