To: All BCGEU Members at BC Housing Management Commission – Administrative/Clerical and Maintenance/Service Divisions
Re: Bargaining Update #1

When we last communicated with you in mid-June, we were asking you to submit bargaining surveys. Thanks to everyone who took the time out of your day to let us know what your bargaining priorities are. We worked over the summer to understand what you told us and complete our proposal package.

We sought bargaining dates in September but only got agreed dates for Admin: October 14 and 17 and for Maintenance: October 19 and 24. That said, bargaining has not yet occurred. BC Housing has two bargaining units – one for the Administrative/Clerical Division (Admin) and one for the Maintenance/Service Division (Maintenance). Each bargaining unit has its own collective agreement and its own bargaining committee. One of the Union's bargaining objectives in this round is the standardization of language between the two units.

The Union advised the Employer that to facilitate that objective we'd be bringing both bargaining committees to all bargaining meetings. The Employer refused to bargain. In addition, the Employer refused to comply with the information request for the Maintenance unit. Both issues are being pursued at the Labour Board as complaints against the Employer.

The parties have agreed to additional bargaining dates from November 18 to 23. Whether bargaining occurs on any of these dates will depend on either the Union's complaint being upheld by the Labour Relations Board or the Employer changing their position and agreeing to bargain with the Union observers present.

In the broader public sector, the collective agreements for the Public Service (direct government employees) and the Health Facilities sub-sector have been ratified. This means that the government's mandate for public sector bargaining, of which BC Housing is a part, has been set and can be found at: Public Sector Mandate

In solidarity,

Your Bargaining Committees

Geoff Stedman, Chairperson, Admin; Ludwig Steegmaier, Chairperson, Maintenance
Lisa Julien, Member, Admin; Mike Kim, Member, Admin
Geoff Harder, Member, Maintenance; Jeevn Atwal, Member, Maintenance
Brent Camilleri, Staff Representative

UWU/MoveUP