Imposed Delay of Meetings to Review Offer Process

There was a communication sent to BCGEU members in early July 2019 from the Joint Transition Committee which includes representatives from: ISM Canada (ISM), NTT DATA Canada, Inc. (NTT) and the B.C. Government and Services Employees' Union (BCGEU). This communication included, in part, the following information:

"As all of you know, IBM's agreement to provide services to the PHSA is scheduled to end on December 31st, 2019. NTT has won the right to carry on with the provision of services to the PHSA. At the point of Transition, ISM will have too many employees, and NTT will need a workforce in order to carry on with the provision of contracted services.

To that end, an agreement has been reached among ISM, NTT and the BCGEU regarding:

1. The process to identify which BCGEU members will be in receipt of an offer from NTT - and -
2. The process to be used if a BCGEU represented ISMer were to refuse an offer of employment from NTT.

Our agreed-to process and its implications are also of interest to IBM and the PHSA. [PHSA and IBM believe] Discussion is required between those two parties in order to ensure our identified processes line up appropriately with the commercial agreement between IBM and the PHSA. Those discussions are not yet complete. (For clarity: The BCGEU does not agree that PHSA and IBM has a say in the labour relations processes of the transition.)

Thus, I am [ISM is] cancelling the scheduled (July 3rd) Town Hall meetings. The Town Hall meetings will be re-scheduled as soon as possible."

Because this delay has been ongoing since early July and adversely affects BCGEU members, we want to reiterate that the BCGEU has been very clear throughout the Transition Process that the PHSA and IBM are not party to the collective agreement between BCGEU and ISM or the collective agreement that is being drafted between BCGEU and NTT (which will be the same content as the BCGEU-ISM collective agreement). Therefore, the PHSA may have a contract with NTT, but they have no decision making power in the labour relations process between NTT and the BCGEU. Further, IBM has no decision making power in the labour relations process between ISM Canada and the BCGEU.

To be clear, the PHSA and IBM are not at the table and have no role to participate in the Joint Transition Committee. The fact that their involvement has delayed the transition process and has had an adverse impact on BCGEU members is something the BCGEU may need to further investigate should these external parties continue to cause interference in the labour transition.

To this end, the BCGEU is actively pursuing our contacts in the Provincial government with a view to finding an end to this inappropriate interference from PHSA.

Further, we have put ISM Canada on notice that if IBM does not cease their interference in this process we will once again take action at the Labour Relations Board and revisit the issue of "common employer" we pursued with some success in 2007.

While we do believe that "all [joint transition committee] parties are interested in moving forward as quickly as possible." It is our goal to present you with the offer process information as soon as possible. We will endeavour to get back to you as soon as we have more information and we appreciate your continued patience as we move through the transition process.

In solidarity,

Judy Fox-McGuire, BCGEU Component 6 Vice President
Joseph Ivens, BCGEU Steward
Lori Strom, BCGEU Staff Representative

Download PDF of notice here

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