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  2. MEDIA RELEASE: B.C.’s public service members ratify collective agreement - BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU)

MEDIA RELEASE: B.C.’s public service members ratify collective agreement - BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU)

Published on October 18, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 18, 2022

B.C.'s public service members ratify collective agreement

BURNABY, B.C. – Over a two-week voting period, members of the BCGEU's (BC General Employees' Union) public service bargaining unit voted 53.4 per cent in favour of the tentative agreement reached with B.C.'s Public Service Agency (PSA) on September 6. More than 71 per cent of eligible members voted in the ratification process.
 
"This ratification marks the end of a long, challenging round of bargaining," said BCGEU President Stephanie Smith, who also serves as Chair of the Public Service Bargaining Committee. "And this agreement is the beginning of a renewed investment in public services and the workers that provide them that will ultimately benefit everyone in B.C. But the result is a clear message from our members that our work is not over."
 
Highlights of the new three-year agreement include:

  • A three-year term from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2025.
  • General wage increases:
    • Year 1 – a flat increase of $0.25/hour which provides a greater percentage increase for lower paid employees (for BCGEU workers, an average of 0.76%) plus 3.24%
    • Year 2 – 5.5% plus a potential Cost of Living Adjustment to a maximum of 6.75%
    • Year 3 – 2% plus a potential Cost of Living Adjustment to a maximum of 3%
  • Improvements to occupational health and safety
  • Improvements to mental health in the workplace
  • Employment security
  • Equity and worker's rights
  • Improved and more flexible leave provisions

The agreement is now fully in effect as the 19th Main Agreement between the BCGEU and the PSA, with a number of terms retroactive to April 1, 2022.
 
In addition to the 33,000 members in the public service bargaining unit, an additional 31,000 public sector BCGEU members are still engaged in bargaining under the Community Social Services, Community Health, Post-secondary instructors and support, and Health Science Professionals agreements.
 
BCGEU is one of the largest unions in British Columbia, with over 85,000 members in almost every community and economic sector in the province.
 
Please see attached backgrounder for additional details and a timeline of public service bargaining.

For more information, contact BCGEU Communications at 604-291-9611 or [email protected]



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