NEWS & UPDATES
May 22, 2020
Your union and WorkSafeBC guidance for re-opening - BCGEU
Your union and WorkSafeBC guidance for re-opening Over the past 10 days, your union's executive, component vice presidents and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) team provided input to the Workers' Compensation Board (WorkSafeBC) as they developed guidance for sectors that are re-opening, as per the B.C. government's Restart Plan. We provided feedback on protocols and best practices to help...
May 20, 2020
BCGEU releases investor brief calling on Thomson Reuters (TSX, NYSE: TRI) to ...
Ahead of the Thomson Reuters (TSX, NYSE: TRI) annual meeting of shareholders on June 3, 2020, the BCGEU has released an investor brief about its shareholder proposal, raising concerns about human rights impacts at the $8-billion software and media company. The Proposal asks the Thomson Reuters board to investigate and disclose whether it has adequately assessed and mitigated the reputational an...
May 19, 2020
Provincial government announces details of pandemic pay program for essential...
In mid-April the federal government announced it was working with the provinces on a cost-shared, temporary "pandemic pay" program to top up the wages of select essential frontline workers-under the cost-share, the federal government is responsible for 75 per cent of the funding and the provincial governments are responsible for the remaining 25 per cent. Ever since the initial announcement, yo...
May 19, 2020
BCGEU calls for expansion of B.C.’s pandemic pay program for essential workers
BURNABY, B.C. – Today the B.C. government released long-awaited details of a federal-provincial cost-shared pandemic pay program to temporarily top up the wages of some essential workers. The B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) is calling on Victoria to expand the program to cover more essential frontline workers.
"The BCGEU pushed hard for this program to cover the broadest po...
May 13, 2020
Local 1203 Shop Stewards - Hello from your BCGEU Staff Representative
Hello 1203 Stewards, I hope you and your loved ones are all staying safe, and healthy, during this challenging time. Some of you are on the frontlines, and others are navigating the challenges of working from home – I just want to say a huge thank you as a fellow British Columbian, for all the hard work you are doing to keep our province going. I am your BCGEU staff representative, and just...
May 07, 2020
The Provincial Spring 2020 - BCGEU
Check out the latest issue of The Provincial
This issue has updates on our union's Equity, Inclusion & Diversity Strengthen All of Us roundtable, our COVID-19 information hub, the fight against massive rent increases and our union's new Affordable BC podcast. UWU/MoveUP
May 07, 2020
Restarting B.C. -- your rights and union news - BCGEU
Restarting B.C. -- your rights and union news
Yesterday B.C. was full of cautious anticipation as Premier Horgan announced the steps we'll be taking to restart the province safely.Throughout the past two months, many BCGEU members have been on the front lines of the pandemic, limiting the spread of COVID-19. At the same time, countless others have been providing vital public services that keep ...
May 05, 2020
Sign our petition to end for-profit seniors’ care in B.C. - BCGEU
Right now, 79 per cent Canada's COVID-19 deaths are connected to long-term care facilities and make up the majority of deaths in B.C. Many seniors and elders have faced the end of their lives alone and their families have been left to pick up the pieces. We have known since the start of this pandemic that elderly people are most at risk, but we knew the senior's care sector was in crisis long b...
May 01, 2020
A May Day message from President Stephanie Smith - BCGEU
May 1st is International Workers Day. Historically, it is a commemoration of the Haymarket affair, a rally that took place in Chicago on May 4, 1886 in support of a general strike for an 8 hour workday that had happened in communities across the United States three days prior. At the time workdays of up to 16 hours were normal-as were six-day workweeks, child labour, and workplace deaths and in...