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COMPONENT 20 - ENVIRONMENT, TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONS

Component 20 includes members who work for the B.C. Government engaged in engineering support and inspectional duties at the technical level, as well as those charged with protecting and regulating natural resources or ensuring the quality of the environment.

NEWS & UPDATES

February 10, 2016

Information on bullying and harassment

On Wednesday, February 24, 2016, we stand together to say no to bullying. The Workers Compensation Board approved three Occupational Health and Safety policies under sections 115, 116, and 117 of the Workers Compensation Act. These policies deal with workplace bullying and harassment. The policies define bullying and harassment, and explain the duties of employers, workers, and supervisors to p...

February 09, 2016

Throne speech: province to expand on Plecas’ recommendations, modernize commu...

The BCGEU is welcoming news the provincial government plans to implement and expand on the recommendations contained in the Plecas report on the Ministry for Children and Family Development. The news was announced in the throne speech this afternoon. Plecas’ report corroborated most of the findings and recommendations from BCGEU’s 2014 Choose Children report and concerns raised by B.C.'s Repres...

February 04, 2016

Update – Recognition of prior vacation year upon re-employment

Following negotiations between the BCGEU and the BC Public Service Agency, we are happy to report that an agreement has been reached on the application of the Memorandum of Agreement – Recognition of Prior Vacation Year Upon Re-Employment. In the future the MOA will be applied in all cases where a qualified former regular employee initially re-employed as an auxiliary employee subsequently att...

February 04, 2016

Join us on February 14 for the 26th annual Women's Memorial March – "Their Sp...

The annual February 14 Women's Memorial March was started in 1991 in Vancouver in response to the murder of a Coast Salish woman on Powell Street.  Since then, marches have been held every year to honour the lives of missing and murdered women. Please join BCGEU president Stephanie Smith and fellow activists in supporting this women-organized, women-led event, to come together to grieve, to rem...

February 04, 2016

BCGEU signs First Nations Solidarity Accord opposing oil sands pipelines and...

First Nations/union alliance emerges in wake of Supreme Court ruling requiring BC government to make a decision on Northern Gateway pipeline and to consult with First Nations.  VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, COAST SALISH TERRITORY – (February 4, 2016) – The BC Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU) signed a Solidarity Accord today, affirming its support of the Save the Fraser Declaratio...

February 04, 2016

BCGEU wishes members a happy Lunar New Year

The Lunar New Year starts on Monday February 8. This marks the start of a fifteen day festival and holiday. Celebrations have started around the world as we say goodbye to the Year of the Sheep and hello to the year of the Fire Monkey.  "We wish our members and their families a very happy and prosperous Lunar New Year," says BCGEU President Stephanie Smith. "We wish you luck, good health and g...

February 04, 2016

BCGEU celebrates the 20th anniversary of Black History Month in Canada

The BCGEU joins Canadians to celebrate Black History Month this February, which marks the event’s 20th anniversary. Our federal government officially recognized Black History Month after passing a parliamentary motion introduced by the Honourable Jean Augustine, the first black Canadian woman elected to Parliament.  "This February, take some time to learn about black Canadians’ tremendous cont...

February 03, 2016

Submission to the Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and ...

On January 27 our union presented a submission to the Special Committee to Review the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). The foundation of public trust in government is transparency, accountability, and a consistently demonstrated respect for the rights of individuals. FIPPA is designed to protect and uphold these values; yet, public practice in information managemen...

January 29, 2016

To all Direct Government OHS Committee Members in the Victoria Area

"Incident Investigations" will be held on Wednesday, March 2 and "Ergonomics" will be held on Thursday, March 3. The Incident Investigations course will be held at the BCGEU area office, 2994 Douglas St., Victoria and the Ergonomics course will be held at Harbour Towers, 345 Quebec St, Victoria. In the Incident Investigations course you will learn: The legislative requirements for conductin...

January 29, 2016

Labour Code OHS Committee Members in the Langley Area

"Ergonomics" will be held on Tuesday, March 1 and "Incident Investigations" will be held on Thursday, March 3. These courses will be held at the BCGEU office at 8555 198A Street, Langley from 9:00 am - 4:30 pm In the Ergonomics you will learn: Requirements of the ergonomics regulation How to identify ergonomic hazards, to assess the risk factors of tasks and to recommend appropriate soluti...

January 28, 2016

Component 20 update on refusal of unsafe work

The BCGEU Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) department is assisting the Environmental, Technical & Operational (Component 20) with the appeal process of the Right to Refuse Unsafe Work. Recently, two Natural Resource Officers (NRO) refused unsafe work due to the lack of adequate training, tools, policies and procedures. Prior to these latest two unsafe work refusals, two other NRO's had...

January 28, 2016

National Survey on Seniors' Care - Work/Life Balance

The issue of elder care received next to no attention during the 2015 federal election. This is alarming as the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population is older Canadians (people 85 and older), most of whom are women. In 1900, the average life expectancy was 47 years of age; by 2000 that had increased to 76 years of age. The end result is the expansion of our population of older adul...

January 28, 2016

BCGEU Signs on to Petition to Free Chinese Labour Activists

On Thursday, January 28, the BCGEU signed on to a petition calling for the release of Chinese labour activists who were detained by the government. Advanced by the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, the petition has now been signed by over 175 organizations. Read more about the petition and sign as an individual China Kidnappings in Spotlight as Canada Mulls New Trade Deal - The Tyee...

January 28, 2016

Liberal government right to repeal anti-union Bill-377

The BCGEU is welcoming news the federal government has introduced legislation to reverse anti-union laws introduced by the Stephen Harper government last year. In the House of Commons today, the Liberals introduced legislation that would reverse changes to laws under Bill-377, which placed vastly expanded requirements on unions to disclose how members’ dues are spent. “This legislation had not...

January 25, 2016

BCGEU’s Occupational Health and Safety Networkers

The creation of the OHS Networking team comes from the BCGEU 2014 convention. Convention delegates were loud and clear with their OHS resolutions: they wanted an expansion in the OHS department. They wanted BCGEU OHS activists to play a larger role, and to see the creation of an OHS Task Force. The OHS Task Force, released their report in April of 2015, with strong and practical recommendations...

January 22, 2016

UNITE HERE! Local 40 Hilton Metrotown and Coast Hotels Bargaining Update

A message from Unite Here! Local 40 Thanks to all of you from BCFED Staff, CUPE, FPSE, GEU, HEU, HSA, MoveUp, TWU/SWA and Unifor who came out to support our members at the Hilton Metrotown on January 20. Management took notice of your support. Many of you have asked for updates on the status of bargaining at both the Hilton and with Coast Hotels in Kelowna, Victoria, Nanaimo and Prince George...