BURNABY, B.C. (COAST SALISH TERRITORIES) – Members of the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) working as librarians for the Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) are escalating their job action starting Friday, March 18^th in an ongoing effort to get the VIRL Board to issue a new wage mandate.
 
“We’ve said from the beginning—librarians don’t want to be on picket lines in front of their libraries, they want to get back into their libraries and back to work,” said Stephanie Smith, president of the BCGEU. “They’ve made every effort from day one of this job action to find a balance between pressuring their employer to get back to the table while minimizing the impact on their communities and their CUPE colleagues. The bottom line is, our members deserve a fair contract, and the VIRL Board has the power to end this job action by issuing a new wage mandate to get that contract settled.”
 
The librarians’ job action started on March 9^th and has so far been limited to rotating pickets targeting single branches. That action will escalate to impact multiple branches from Sooke to Port Hardy as of Friday morning. The union’s pickets will be in effect throughout regular operating hours at the following VIRL branches:

• Port Hardy (7110 Market Street)
• Comox (101 – 1720 Beaufort Ave)
• Qualicum Beach (101 – 660 Primrose Street)
• Sooke (6671 Wadams Way)
• South Cowichan (310 – 2720 Mill Bay Road, Mill Bay)

VICTORIA, B.C. – Negotiations between the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) and the provincial government’s Public Service Agency (PSA) have stalled over a significant gap in wage proposals. The current agreement between the parties, which covers more than 32,000 union members, expires on March 31, 2022.
 
“We have made good progress so far on some very important issues that will substantially improve the working lives of our members,” said Stephanie Smith, BCGEU president and chair of the union’s bargaining committee. “But we came to the table carrying a clear message from our members to their employer—cost of living protection is the price of admission for a deal this round. When we exchanged monetary packages last week there was a gaping chasm between what our members need and what the PSA was offering so we’re stalled.”
 
As inflation rises and the cost-of-living skyrockets in communities across the province, public service workers are falling further and further behind. And there’s no end in sight—this week’s inflation numbers from Statistics Canada are expected to be higher.
 
“BC is a beautiful province but it is expensive to live here and it’s getting more expensive every day,” said Smith. “The bottom line is any wage offer that doesn’t include cost of living protection (COLA) is a wage cut and no worker should be expected to take a wage cut—especially not the public service workers who kept our families safe and our province operating over everything the last two years has thrown at us.”
 
The BCGEU bargaining committee sees the stall as a temporary setback and remains optimistic about reaching a deal at the bargaining table before the current agreement expires.
 
“Our union has a long-standing and very constructive working relationship with the PSA,” said Smith. “We’ve been bargaining agreements and solving problems together for almost 50 years. I am confident that if the PSA can revise their wage offer, we can get a deal BCGEU members will ratify.”
 
Before pausing negotiations, the parties made significant progress on a range of issues BCGEU members also identified as important including improved processes to resolve member issues and complaints, stronger language around bullying and sexual harassment, improvements to occupational and heath and safety language. The union’s bargaining committee is ready to return to the negotiating table on short notice as soon as the PSA has a revised wage proposal to bring to the table.
 
 
 

UWU/MoveUP

Every individual has the right to contribute to the conversation on the BCGEU's social media channels. These conversations will be respectful of others' political affiliation, race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, abilities, appearance, and occupation.

• Harassment will not be tolerated: Harassment is defined as comments which ridicule, humiliate, insult, or degrade another user on the basis of race (e.g. comments, slurs and jokes), place of origin, political belief, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental abilities. Sexual harassment of any kind (unwanted attention of a sexual nature such as remarks about appearance or personal life, graffiti or degrading pictures, physical contact or sexual demands) will also not be tolerated.
• Personal attacks on other participants on the page, fellow members and citizens, or on public figures are not tolerated. Personal attacks are defined as comments that use abusive remarks on or relating to one's person instead of debating that person's claims or comments.
• Hate speech is not tolerated. Hate speech is defined as comments that attack a person or group on the basis of attributes such as race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, or occupation. Any post containing hate speech will be deleted without notice. 
• Spamming is not tolerated. Spamming is defined as sending the same or similar message indiscriminately. Any spam posts will be deleted without notice. 
• Misinformation (posts/comments that are clearly not factual) and off-topics comments of an inflammatory nature will be deleted without notice.

UWU/MoveUP

BURNABY, B.C. (COAST SALISH TERRITORIES) – Members of the BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU) working as librarians for the Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) are on the picket line at VIRL's Cowichan Branch (2687 James Street in Duncan) today. The picket is the first step in escalated job action from the librarians who are awaiting response to their latest counteroffer from the employer via the Labour Relations Board mediator.

BCGEU librarians have been without a contract since December 2020 and have experienced significant delays to bargaining from the employer. They are seeking a deal that aligns their compensation with other libraries in the province and reflects the rising cost of living across Vancouver Island.
 
"To be clear: librarians do not want to picket – they want to be at work serving their communities," said Stephanie Smith, BCGEU president. "Our members' demands are fair and reasonable. VIRL has the power to end our job action and restore library services for the people of the Cowichan Valley. "
 
The union's picket will be in effect from 9 am to 8 pm. The union is asking library users to support their job action by joining them on the picket line or refusing to cross it should VIRL choose to keep the branch open. Librarians are also calling on the VIRL Board of Trustees to encourage the employer to provide a fair offer and return to negotiations.
 
Librarians provide critical community services to a variety of populations including access to Internet for seniors and literacy skills for children and families. They have also been serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic amidst the province's opioid crisis, affordable housing crisis, mental health crisis and climate-related disasters.
 
Background:
 
For more information, including previous media releases and picket updates, visit www.bcgeu.ca/virl.
 
BCGEU spokesperson Jennifer Seper will be available Wednesday for interview at VIRL's Cowichan branch in Duncan between 9:30 am and 4:30 pm. Email [email protected] to arrange an interview.
 
The BCGEU is B.C.'s most dynamic, diverse, and fastest growing union -- representing more than 82,000 members who work in every sector of the economy and live in every community across the province including the 48 librarians who work for the Vancouver Island Regional Library.

UWU/MoveUP

March 8th is International Women’s Day (IWD).

It’s an opportunity to celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of women throughout history and around the world. An opportunity to recommit ourselves to stand together and work together to continue breaking down the barriers that still hold women back in far too many families, communities and workplaces. An opportunity to dream with our eyes open about a world that is more diverse, equitable and inclusive than ours. A world where girls and women thrive and contribute as true equals free from discrimination, harassment and violence.

This year’s theme for IWD is #BreakTheBias. And, as far as women have come, as much progress as we have won, two years into the COVID-19 pandemic it is irrefutable that women are not yet where we want to be, where we need to be, where we deserve to be. Breaking the bias means continuing to do the hard work needed to create the society we wish we had grown up in.

We #BreakTheBias by acknowledging hard truths and having difficult conversations with our families, friends and coworkers.

We #BreakTheBias by stepping into leadership roles in our workplaces and communities and serving as role models for the women and girls in our lives.

We #BreakTheBias by creating allies and lifting as we climb.

So this year, whether you are organizing an event, attending an event, taking part in the #BreakTheBias social media campaign, or all of the above, we all have a part to play in creating a more diverse and inclusive world.

Visit the IWD website to find out more about this year’s theme.

In solidarity,

Stephanie Smith (she/her) 
President, BCGEU

BCGEU headquarters is located on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skxwú7mesh (Squamish) & Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.

March 8 International Women's Day 2022 Events

Take time to connect with your communities and your union locals this year by joining one of the IWD events listed below—or organize your own. Please contact your local labour council or organizations to locate events in your area.

Here are some events you can take part in to celebrate International Women's Day 2022

Movie Night: Margaret Atwood – A Word after a Word after a Word is Power March 8, 2022 - Vancouver, Canada

To coincide with International Women's Day, CHF BC is screening the documentary Margaret Atwood – A Word after a Word after a Word is Power by Peter Raymont & Nancy Lang. Please join us on Tuesday, March 8 to watch this inspiring film about Margaret Atwood, her backstory, her novels, and her upcoming works. Register ahead to receive zoom details.

Women in Public Works 2022 (Virtual)

March 8, 2022 - Vancouver, Canada

This session is an inspiring professional learning and networking event for all women public works leaders or leaders in male-dominated industries. Our theme this year follows International Women's Day with #BreaktheBias.

Greater Vancouver Board of Trade: Celebrating International Women's Day: Break the Bias

March 8, 2022 – Virtual, Canada

Join us as we learn from women who have shattered glass ceilings in male-dominated industries and are paving the way for all women and girls, and champions of women's rights in our region who are setting an example for all.

MembersThis event is free for members
Non-membersIndividuals: $30 + GST

International Women's Day Panel: Breaking Biases in the Workplace

March 8, 2022 – Virtual, Canada

This year, we're focusing our International Women's Day panel discussion on the ways we can work to #BreakTheBias in the workplace and create a level playing field for women. Join our panel of powerful women for this fascinating discussion and learn how they are making a difference and setting new standards in the workplace. We'll discuss ways to create a workplace free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination; work cultures that are diverse, equitable and inclusive, and ones where differences are valued and celebrated.

Registration: $10.00

North Shore Women's Centre International Women's Day Celebration & Benefit 2022

March 1 - 14

Spoken Treasures - The History of Vancouver and Stanley Park Through Indigenous Women's Eyes
Date: March 8th, 2022 (Tuesday)

Start Time: 4:00 pm
End Time: 5:15 pm
Guide Candace Campo, Shishalh Nation
Guide: Anjenette Dawson, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation (to be confirmed)

Tour Description: Join us in Stanley Park on the seawall to journey through time, exploring and sharing history through the eyes of Indigenous women. We will explore the rich history of Stanley Park and Vancouver through Indigenous Women's eyes. Our local Indigenous ambassadors-guides will accompany you along the Stanley Park seawall, for an enriched, leisurely, 1.2 km stroll, to share an historical and cultural interpretive walking tour from the unique perspectives of our indigenous women with you. Spoken Treasures highlights how our ancestral matriarchs lived sustainably through the Potlatch, and how they navigated and were impacted by early contact with explorers, trade merchants and settlers. The tour starts at the Stanley Park Information Booth and is completed at the renowned Stanley Park Totem Poles where the formal tour will conclude with stories of the totem poles and the diversity and richness of the Indigenous peoples, throughout the Pacific Northwest. Legends of Kalkalath, Wild Women of the Mountains, make it fun for guests of all ages.  

UWU/MoveUP

BURNABY, B.C. (COAST SALISH TERRITORIES) – Members of the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) working as librarians for the Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) will begin escalated job action starting Wednesday, March 9 should they not receive a serious offer from the employer.
 
On March 1, after the union had issued 72-hour strike notice, the employer made a new offer to librarians. However, that offer did not go far enough on wages given members' working conditions.
 
The union responded with a counteroffer and is awaiting a response.
 
“Unless the employer comes back with a serious offer, pickets will be up at VIRL branches starting Wednesday, March 9,” said BCGEU President Stephanie Smith. “Librarians don’t want job action. They want respect from their employer. Yet all they’ve received is delays, unfair proposals and disrespectful treatment – and that’s just during bargaining.”
 
Shortly after submitting their counteroffer to the employer, librarians submitted a group letter to all trustees of the VIRL Board. The letter called on all 38 trustees to ensure that librarians’ next collective agreement provides them with fundamental supports – including a psychologically safe and respectful workplace, and wages that align with other libraries and lessen the impact of cost of living and inflation – and pressure the employer, who they oversee, to return to the table and mitigate picket lines and impacts on the community.
 
Librarians are also calling on the public to write similar letters to their local VIRL board trustee.
 
For more information, visit www.bcgeu.ca/virl – where the latest updates will be posted for media and the public – or contact [email protected]
 
The BCGEU is B.C.'s most dynamic, diverse, and fastest growing union -- representing more than 82,000 members who work in every sector of the economy and live in every community across the province including the 48 librarians who work for the Vancouver Island Regional Library.
 
Background:
 
See previous media release

UWU/MoveUP

On Thursday March 3, 2022, all 48 BCGEU members working as librarians for the Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) submitted a group letter to the library's Board Trustees.

Read their letter here.

The letter called on all 38 trustees to ensure that librarians' next collective agreement provides them with fundamental support – including a psychologically safe and respectful workplace, and wages that align with other libraries and lessen the impact of cost of living and inflation – which are needed to continue serving their communities.

In sending the letter, the librarians hope that the trustees will urge VIRL management, who they oversee, to make the librarians a respectful and fair offer immediately and prevent any further job action and subsequent impacts on the community.

Librarians do NOT want to take job action. They WANT to return to negotiations, and they want a fair collective agreement that recognizes the value of their work to the communities they serve. However, without a fair and respectful offer, they will be forced to escalate their actions.

Echo your VIRL librarians' call by tweeting at your local or regional VIRL Board Trustee! Add their Twitter handle (which you can find here) to the following tweet:

Hey [insert your trustee's handle] and @VI_Library board, please #respectVIRLlibrarians by giving them a fair and respectful offer! We need our library services!: https://bit.ly/3KgZW9z

Background:

The VIRL Board of Trustees includes elected representatives from 28 member municipalities and 10 regional districts from across Vancouver Island, from parts of Greater Victoria to Port Hardy including the Gulf Islands, Haida Gwaii and Bella Coola. VIRL board trustees are responsible for guiding and supporting the library system's operations including the hiring of executive and management staff who are responsible for bargaining with librarians.

VIRL librarians have been without a contract since December 2020. Bargaining did not begin until September 2021, delayed due to the employer. Despite intervention from a mediator, negotiations hit impasse in mid-February 2022. Librarians then voted 95% in favour of striking for their needs, and despite hearing that result and receiving 72-hour strike notice, the employer has still not provided a fair and respectful offer to librarians. As of Thursday, March 3, librarians have been in a legal position to take job action.

Follow #respectVIRLlibrarians on Twitter and Instagram for updates.

UWU/MoveUP

BURNABY, B.C. (COAST SALISH TERRITORIES) – The BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU) served the Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) board with 72-hour strike notice on Monday, February 28. The union's move means libraries in many communities on Vancouver Island and neighbouring islands could be behind picket lines as early as 8 a.m. Thursday, March 3. The BCGEU is calling on elected representatives serving on local councils and regional districts to prevent this from happening.

"Librarians don't want job action," said BCGEU president Stephanie Smith. "What they want is a fair collective agreement that recognizes the value of their work to the communities they serve, protects their wages from sky-rocketing inflation, and gives them the safe, healthy workplaces they deserve. What they've gotten from their employer so far is unnecessary delays and proposals that can only be described as disrespectful. It's unacceptable."

VIRL is governed by a board of trustees made up of elected representatives from 28 member municipalities and 10 regional districts. The union says those trustees have a role to play in preventing job action and maintaining library services for their communities. In mid-February, the 48 librarians covered by the collective agreement voted 95 per cent in favour of job action to back their proposals after mediation between the two parties in January failed to produce an agreement.

"Trustees are responsible for guiding library operations and that includes hiring the staff who are at the table with our members bargaining this contract," said Smith. "These trustees are also responsible to the people who elected them. It's high time they got involved to help prevent the withdrawal of library services."

For more information, contact: [email protected]

The BCGEU is B.C.'s most dynamic, diverse, and fastest growing union -- representing more than 82,000 members who work in every sector of the economy and live in every community across the province including the 48 librarians who work for the Vancouver Island Regional Library.

Background:

The key issues are wages not keeping up with inflation, ongoing occupational health and safety issues including workplace violence and mental health impacts, and disrespectful working conditions.

Despite use of a mediator from the Labour Relations Board, bargaining hit impasse in mid-February 2022 when the employer refused to provide cost-of-living wages and minimizing proposals to address workplace violence.

The union has 90 days to exercise its right to strike. This means job action can occur any time after 8 a.m. March 3. A strike is only one form of job action available to librarians. This is often the last resort as it could involve the closure of some or all VIRL branches. Other forms of job action librarians could take include working to rule or rotating strikes. Library workers who are CUPE members would not cross a BCGEU picket line. 

Librarians have been without a collective agreement since December 2020.

The 48 librarians are responsible for library operations at 39 branches across Vancouver Island from parts of Greater Victoria to Port Hardy including the Gulf Islands, Haida Gwaii and Bella Coola.

The library system is governed by a board of trustees who, in accordance with B.C.'s Library Act, is made up of elected representatives from 28 member municipalities and 10 regional districts.

UWU/MoveUP

A progressive vision for inclusive and clean growth, continued support for critical public services like healthcare and childcare, and the announcement of a new year-round B.C. Wildfire Service are just some of the highlights in what the B.C. General Employees' Union (BCGEU) is calling a "bargaining budget".
 
"The devil is always in the details but on first glance there's a lot for our members and all working people in British Columbia to be hopeful about in this year's budget," said BCGEU president Stephanie Smith. "For instance, a year-round wildfire service is something we have been working on for years, so it's good to see that becoming a reality. And continued investments in public services to support priorities like childcare, housing, homelessness, reconciliation, and affordability, while modest, are positive steps."
 
But while one of B.C.'s largest and fastest growing labour unions supports government's broad environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments, the BCGEU's focus is on the budget's economic and fiscal outlook and the implications for collective bargaining.
 
"Almost 80 per cent of BCGEU members in the public sector will be negotiating collective agreements in 2022-some are already at the table," said Smith. "These are the people who have kept our province operating in the face of unimaginable challenges over the past few years and they have made it crystal clear to their bargaining committees-financial issues will be key to reaching agreements."
 
"With inflation at thirty-year highs and the Bank of Canada expected to start increasing interest rates next week, BCGEU members and all working people are falling behind," Smith continued. "In that context, the debt, deficit and revenue numbers in the budget are extremely good news and we are looking forward to making sure the province's strong economic and fiscal position is reflected in our members' collective agreements."

Click here to read our full analysis of Budget 2022/23
 
Link to Bargaining Media release: https://www.bcgeu.ca/bcgeu_begins_bargaining_collective_agreements_covering_more_than_64k_members

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

UWU/MoveUP