Friends,

Many of you are asking about bargaining for the renewal of the Thompson Interior Savings collective agreement. Please accept our apologies for the tardiness of this update; there has been a lot happening in the background that we had been unable to disclose until now. On a go forward basis, you have our commitment for regular updates.

As you may be aware, the BCGEU has two separate certifications with Interior Savings: Okanagan and Thompson. Administering two separate certifications with the same employer is not efficient from a labour relations standpoint particularly with the formation of Beem. As a result, an internal decision was made to approach the employer about consolidating the two certifications – known as a variance.

We met with the employer on March 13^th to start those discussions. Although we did not receive a commitment from the employer, we believe it was a productive meeting. Understandably, the employer was not in a position to respond during that meeting telling us they required time to consider our proposal. They hope to get back to us by mid-April.

Until then, and in anticipation of questions that you may have, we have developed the below FAQ which we will update and distribute as necessary.

Why are we consolidating the certifications?

We are consolidating the certifications because it is unusual for a union to have two certifications with the same employer. It makes no labour relations sense and in fact makes it more cumbersome to administer. One certification with the same employer is standard practice and is the existing practice as it relates to the BCGEU's certifications with other financial institutions such as Vancity.

What can you expect when the certifications are consolidated?

Should the certifications be consolidated there will not be a lot of change. The Thompson and Okanagan collective agreements will continue to be in place although the next logical step will be to look at consolidating those collective agreements. Once again, we would do this because it makes labour relations sense as it should bring about consistency and accuracy between Okanagan and Thompson on how the employer administers the collective agreement.

What happens next?

We are waiting on the employer's response to our proposal. If it is positive we will apply to the Labour Relations Board to vary the certification. If the employer does not agree with the union's proposal, we will still ask the Labour Relations Board to consolidate the certifications.

When will we start bargaining for the renewal of the Thompson collective agreement?

Not until we have certainty regarding the variance as that has the potential to influence what is discussed at the bargaining table.

We will continue to provide updates as we move through this process.

If a member at your worksite didn't receive this email, please encourage them to go to the BCGEU member portal at my.bcgeu.ca to sign up for an account and update their contact information.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to any of us.

In solidarity,

Dayl Dhaliwal, Member

Dani Noble, Member

Darla Holmwood, Servicing Rep

JoAnne Leclerc, Servicing Rep

Zoe Towle, Staff Rep, Negotiations