• The newly ratified agreement is now in effect as the 19^th Main Agreement between the B.C. Public Service Agency and the BC General Employees' Union
• The previous public service agreement – the 18^th Main Agreement – took effect April 1, 2019 and expired on March 31, 2022. 
• The BCGEU is the only union covered by this agreement. 
• Employer: Public Service Agency 
• BCGEU members covered: approximately 33,000 
• Negotiations start date: Tuesday, February 8, 2022 
• Examples of jobs performed and services provided by BCGEU members: 
  • Correctional officers and sheriffs; 
  • B.C. government liquor store and cannabis store workers; 
  • Social workers, child protection, probation officers, and system analysts;
  • Administrative and support services; and
  • Wildfire forest fighters, biologists, design engineers, conservation officers, scientific/technical officers, inspectors and planning officers.
• The BCGEU is one of B.C.'s largest unions, representing more than 85,000 members who work in every sector of the provincial economy and live in every community across B.C. 
• More than 64,000 BCGEU members (78 per cent) are covered by one of six public sector agreements that are being negotiated in 2022.
• BCGEU members make up 17 per cent of the 384,000 unionized workers and public service professionals that will be negotiating with the provincial government in 2022. 
• The public service agreement is the second public sector agreement to be ratified in 2022, following the ratification of the Health Services and Support - Facilities Subsector agreement (Health Facilities) on October 13, 2022.
• BCGEU members remain in bargaining at the following public sector tables (more details here):
  • Health Services & Support – Community Subsector agreement
  • Community Social Services (Community Living, General Services and Indigenous Services agreements)
  • Post-secondary (instructors and support staff agreements) 
  • Health Science Professionals

Bargaining timeline: 

• September 23, 2021: Bargaining survey sent to members
• November 5, 2021: Member polling conducted (external polling)
• November 26, 2021: Public Service bargaining conference
• January 31, 2022: Component bargaining commences
• February 7: Main table bargaining commences
• March 14: talks stalled as employer does not have revised wage offer
• March 25: BCGEU and PSA resume talks
• April 7: Public service bargaining hits impasse over wage proposals
• May 16: Strike vote begins
• June 22: Ballot count and announcement of 95% strike vote
• July 3: Bargaining resumes for one day, talks break down
• Aug 12: Strike notice issued
• August 15-30: Job action commences at LDB warehouses 
• August 22: Job action escalates to include OT ban
• August 25: Bargaining resumes as employer calls union back to the table
• September 6: Tentative agreement announced

Ratification vote:

• Electronic voting was conducted and verified by Simply Voting – a secure, third-party online voting platform.
• Voting began on Monday, October 3, and closed on Monday, October 17, at 5 p.m.
• Immediately following the close of voting, the BCGEU Public Service Bargaining Committee, BCGEU staff and scrutineers received the final vote count at BCGEU Headquarters.
• The results of the vote were 53.4 % in favour of the tentative agreement.
• Approximately 71% of over 32,600 eligible voters participated in the ratification vote.

UWU/MoveUP