Your bargaining committee has spent four more days at the bargaining table attempting to renew your collective agreement. On a positive note, the parties were able to conclude all of the non-monetary provisions. This will result in significant upgrades to many provisions of your collective agreement. When talking about providing you with fair wages, benefits and other monetary increases, the Employer takes a very different view.

On March 9, the Union tabled its monetary package. The package was developed based on your input from the bargaining surveys along with information collected from your bargaining representatives. It was clear from the surveys and your representatives that getting a collective agreement that makes up for years of wages and benefits that are lower than elsewhere in the industry are key to us negotiating an acceptable agreement on your behalf. The package your bargaining team tabled represented those views.

The response from the Employer was less than positive. On March 10, the Employer tabled a counter package to the Union's proposals. Their idea of a fair collective agreement is minor increases that don't come close to addressing your priorities. Your bargaining committee knows this is not acceptable and will never agree to an agreement that holds you back to 2019 wages and benefits.

Where do we go from here? We will be resuming bargaining May 20 and 21. It is our hope that the Employer will come to the table with realistic proposals that deal with the fact you have been underpaid in wages and benefits for many years. A fair agreement means catching up in those areas.

In the meantime, your committee is looking at ways to engage with you directly. We have to make it clear to the Employer that what we table and talk about at bargaining comes from you the members, and that you stand behind your bargaining committee in achieving those goals.

If you know other BCGEU members who didn't get this email, please forward it to them. If you didn't receive this bulletin directly, please log into the Members' Portal here to make sure your Union has your updated contact information. This will ensure you're able to stay up to date on bargaining news.

You will be hearing from your bargaining representatives over the next while.

In solidarity,

Rick Bowen – Bargaining Committee Chair
Kathy Caldwell – Bargaining Committee Member
Laurie Johnson – Bargaining Committee Member
Sheila Matthen – Staff Representative, Negotiations

Download PDF of notice here 

UWU/MoveUP