Click here to find info on COVID-19

Bargaining Bulletin #4: Negotiations Stalled for AgeCare members - BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU)


Your BCGEU bargaining committee and AgeCare met again in negotiations on February 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th and 28th. The parties made substantial progress on monetary negotiations over those five days and were very close to a deal.

On February 28th, AgeCare tabled a settlement package, all of which was agreeable to the Union except for one relatively minor item re. what happens when a paid holiday falls on an employee's scheduled day off. The Union then tabled a settlement package in response; it was the same as the Employer's settlement package, except on the relatively minor matter described above.

The Union expected to receive AgeCare's response within one or two days. We were taken aback when AgeCare advised on March 2nd that it would need until March 21st to respond. Despite finding this unexplained delay to be excessive, your bargaining committee appreciated the good will the parties had seemed to develop in negotiations, and reluctantly decided to wait for AgeCare's response.

By the late afternoon of March 24th-nearly three full days after the date on which AgeCare promised a response-we had still heard nothing. The Union wrote to the Employer and demanded a response to its settlement package by today (March 25th) at 3pm. In response, AgeCare asked the staff negotiator to meet without the bargaining committee to discuss substantial monetary matters in the settlement package: wage levelling, vacations, PTO, sick time, and retroactive pay. AgeCare subsequently wrote again to reject the Union's settlement package.

The BCGEU responded to AgeCare and declined its request to deviate from the established bargaining process. It also questioned AgeCare's conduct in bargaining and whether it was in good faith. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, your union advised AgeCare that it now considered negotiations to be at impasse, and that the Union would consider all available options to compel AgeCare to reach an agreeable settlement.

Your bargaining committee is now actively considering its options. We will provide a further update as soon as we have decided how to proceed.

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 of notice here



UWU/MoveUP