Community health bargaining will resume next week, starting on Monday, April 11^th. Your bargaining committee will be focused on portability of seniority, overtime by seniority, workload and making sure wages keep up with inflation.

A number of members have contacted us with questions about what will come next, and how the bargaining process works overall.

To address these questions, your bargaining committee has produced a short video explaining each step of the bargaining process. Click here to watch the community health bargaining video.

 


The video features members of your bargaining committee and is indexed by topic, so that each link that goes directly to the start of each individual topic: 

• 0:31 - Determining Bargaining Priorities
• 2:45 - At the Bargaining Table
• 4:35 - Reaching Impasse: Escalation and Job Action
• 7:18 - Voting on a tentative agreement
• 8:22 - A Deal is Reached

In solidarity,

Your Community Bargaining Association

The Health Employers’ Association of BC (HEABC) tabled their initial wage proposal for the Community Health agreement, and we are deeply disappointed. We need a significant investment in front-line workers to address the staffing crisis in community health and we won’t accept anything less.

We expect challenging monetary negotiations, but the last weeks of bargaining have shown us that when we stand together, with your support, we can achieve important improvements for our sector.

These past weeks we addressed a number of key areas including overtime, harassment, and portability of seniority.

At the table we shared personal stories from your workplaces, and made it impossible for the employer to ignore the issues you face on daily basis and the deteriorating state of our sector. Thanks to all of you who took the time to share your personal stories with us.

We’ve heard from you that you’ve had to choose at times between caring for your children or your clients because of forced overtime due to short staffing.

You told us that many community health workers are forced to put yourselves at risk, driving at unsafe speeds, to stick to an unrealistic schedule.

Some of you are losing a decade or more of seniority when you apply for a new position—even when it is with the same employer.

There are countless stories, and the common theme is that workers in the community health sector have been overworked, underpaid and disrespected for too long.

With your help, we’ve moved the employer on some our top issues but there is still a lot of work to do.

We will all need to do more. We will be calling on you to talk to your coworkers and ensure that they are receiving updates and ready to act when it’s time to apply more pressure to the employer.

We’ll be back at the bargaining table in April and will keep you updated.

In solidarity,

Your Community Bargaining Association

P.S. If you know a co-worker who is not getting these emails forward this to them and tell them to update their information here with the union. If they aren’t getting emails, we don’t have their contact info. https://members.bcgeu.ca/signup

UWU/MoveUP

Your Community Bargaining Association (CBA) tabled our proposals last week as we began talks with the Health Employers' Association of BC (HEABC). 
At this point in time, we are pushing to achieve non-monetary priorities that you identified as important measures to address the recruitment and retention crisis in the sector.

The employer has recognized that we share some common goals. They are aware of the dire situation caused by short-staffing and made worse by the pandemic.
 
We are continuing in-depth discussions this week on scheduling, hours of work, overtime, and mobility of seniority. To show the employer how badly change is needed, we want to share real-life examples of the challenges we face in these areas, but first we need to gather stories from members like you.
 
Have you personally experienced challenges related to scheduling, hours of work, overtime, or mobility of seniority? Click here to share your story anonymously using our simple online form.
 
Once we have dealt with all non-monetary issues, we will move on to wages, benefits and other monetary issues. We will update you as talks progress.
 
In solidarity,
Your Community Bargaining Association

P.S. If you know a co-worker who is not getting these emails forward this to them and tell them to update their information here with the union. If they aren't getting emails, we don't have their contact info. https://members.bcgeu.ca/signup

UWU/MoveUP

As negotiations are soon set to start for members covered by the Community Health, Facilities and Health Science Professionals collective agreements, the Unions are commencing Essential Service negotiations with your Employers.
 
The Union and Employer are required to negotiate and establish the healthcare services that will be provided in the event of any job action. This process usually begins around the time that negotiations are set to begin. Essential services are those services necessary or essential to prevent immediate and serious danger to the health, safety or welfare of the residents of British Columbia. Providing essential services is meant to achieve a balance between allowing the Union to have an effective strike and providing emergency services to the public. If a job is determined to be non-essential this does not in any way imply the job is not important.
 
BCGEU Area Office Staff Representatives will be conducting the negotiations for your worksites, and may be reaching out to your Local Executive and Stewards for assistance and feedback. If you are asked by your Employer to negotiate the essential services at your workplace, please advise your Steward or Local Executive member so your Employer can be redirected to the Staff Representative for your worksite.
 
In Solidarity,
 
Monique Wemhof
Staff Representative, Negotiations

Download PDF of notice here