As members of the BCGEU, you are covered by the Community Social Services Sectoral Collective Agreement. Currently we are in negotiations to seek improvements to working conditions such as increased wages and better mental health supports.
 
The non-monetary parts of the agreement came in effect at your workplace back in July. The monetary parts of your new collective agreement will take effect on November 11^th
 
We have heard from many of you that there have been some concerns around a letter that had been sent from Julian regarding some of the changes that are happening at work. So we brought these concerns forward at our first Labour Management meeting to try and resolve some of these issues with your employer.
 
You can find the meeting minutes here. The next meeting is scheduled for January 17 – if you have any potential topics to discuss please bring them to your Stewards.
 
Here are some links for your reference in case these haven't been shared with you already. If you have any questions please review them and reach out to a Steward:  

Community Social Services – General Services Collective Agreement

• Your collective agreement spells out your legal rights at work. Your agreement is a sectoral agreement negotiated between workers in community social services represented by an association of unions (CSSBA) and an association of your employers. We negotiate with the collective power of 16,000 community social service workers to achieve higher wages, benefits and better working conditions than a small workplace could get on their own. Our strength is in numbers.
  
  
• Talk to stewards at your workplace to learn more about your agreement and how it applies to you and your coworkers. 

FAQs-Community Social Services Bargaining Association (CSSBA)

• Explains the sectoral collective agreements, and the timelines and the process for you joining the same collective agreement as the other unionized community social service workers. 

CSSBA - Benefits at A Glance 

• Summary of the extended health benefits that community social service workers have. 

Municipal Pension Plan Explainer 

• Explanation of the Municipal Pension Plan (MPP) for community social service workers. 

Next Steps – Classifications:
 
In terms of next steps, your employer will be sending us their proposed job description and classification on the wage grid for your job. We will be reach out to you to make sure that this information is accurate for the work that you do. We want to ensure that you are receiving the fairest wage possible.
 
We still do not have the wage rates for 2022 as this is being negotiated provincially for all Community Social Services workers across the province. Once a deal is reached you will be notified and have the opportunity to vote to accept the tentative agreement.
 
Next Steps: Union Dues:
 
You will not be paying union dues until you get a wage increase that meets or exceeds the percentage in dues. Members pay 1.85% of their gross wages in union dues - so for example $1.85 for every $100 earned in wages. Union dues are tax deductible. 
Next Steps: Local Issues Bargaining: 
A limited number of topics such as Hours of Work and Casual Callout procedures are negotiated directly with your employer. This is called local issues bargaining – for more information you can check out Memorandum of Agreement #1 of your collective agreement.
 
Your local issues bargaining committee consists of four of your Stewards: Jelena Avramovic, Nicole Girvin, Jordan Shaw and Tiffany Wagner.
 
Currently we are still in discussions and nothing has been decided. We have heard that changes are being implemented. However in our view that should not happen until both parties gave come to an agreement on the new rules.
 
In solidarity,
 
Kate Banky
Local 301 Chairperson
 
Peter Janz
Local 301 Member at Large
 
Stacey Campbell & Kathleen Mann
BCGEU Staff Representatives
 
P.S. Stay up to date on union news by signing into BCGEU's Member Portal. Access it with your login at
https://my.bcgeu.ca/ or, if you haven't logged in before, you can sign up for an account here:
https://my.bcgeu.ca/signup.
 

Download PDF of notice here
Download PDF of Labour management minutes here
Download PDF of General services Collective Agreement here
Download PDF of CSSBA FAQ here
Download PDF of CSSBA benefits at a glance here
Download PDF of Municipal Pension Plan explainer here

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