Bargaining dates confirmed for April

Your bargaining committee will be meeting with the employer on April 22-25 in Vancouver and again on April 28-30 in Victoria.

The focus of bargaining so far has been on non-monetary proposals – these are issues that don't have a direct monetary cost (check out past bulletins on your bargaining hub for more details on discussions so far). Monetary negotiations deal with wages, benefits, and other issues with a monetary cost - both sides usually prefer to begin these discussions once the non-monetary proposals have been agreed to. The employer has not yet addressed key non-monetary items. We hope to be able to update you on non-monetary movement after returning to the table in April.

Your bargaining committee represents you at the table and pushes for the priorities that you've identified throughout the pre-bargaining period. During the negotiation process, we will share as much information as we can. We often don't share the specifics of any offers on the table because we want to go into bargaining decisive and determined. If we run into issues at the table, that's when we come back and ask you what you're willing to fight for - what's a must and what can we confidently accept on your behalf.

Over the next few weeks, we will be mobilising workplace contacts and preparing opportunities for member education and townhall meetings. Stay tuned for more information!

BCGEU's Budget Analysis

Our union is closely monitoring the evolving economic landscape and its impact on our members and bargaining conditions. As part of that we've recently completed a detailed analysis of the provincial budget. Read our union's take on the B.C. budget and what it means for members.

In addition to an analysis of the U.S. tariff impacts and B.C.'s response, the document offers a deep dive into budget highlights such as potential implications for public service and public sector bargaining, emergency readiness and wildfire response, and government's housing strategy.

Reminder – update your contact information

We're asking all members in the public service to update your contact information in the Member Portal before your contract expires on March 31st.

If you don't yet have a Member Portal account, click here to sign up today. 

Already have a Member Portal account? You can log in here. If you've forgotten your password, you can reset it here. It's important to make sure that our union has your up-to-date contact information.

In solidarity, 

Your Public Service Bargaining Committee

 
Paul Finch, President and Committee Chair
Maria Bennett, Treasurer
Dean Purdy, Component 1 Vice-President
Kusam Doal, Component 5 Vice-President
Judy Fox-McGuire, Component 6 Vice-President
Mona Dykes, Component 6 Second Representative
DJ Pohl, Component 12 Vice-President
Faith Johnston, Component 12 Second Representative 
Robert Davis, Component 20 Vice-President
Douglas W. Dykens, Executive Director – Advocacy, Negotiations, Member
Benefits and secretary to the PSBC
Larisa Mills, Staff Representative
Sumiko Marshall, Support Staff

UWU/MoveUP

The sixth week of public service bargaining concluded in Victoria on Friday. We reached agreement on the use of artificial intelligence and automated work, achieved language regarding our commitment to reconciliation, and continued work on the component agreements. The employer has refused to negotiate meaningful language changes on key issues such as reasonable parameters on telework and electronic monitoring. The committee stands firm on these issues. 

VIDEO: Paul Finch outlines the significance of MOU 1 
Watch BCGEU President Paul Finch, who also serves as Chair of the Public Service Bargaining Committee, clarify some key points about Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 1, which covers job security. Paul explains why the renewal of this MOU is a significant development at the bargaining table, especially following government's two recent hiring freeze announcements.

Next steps
Both parties will be taking a scheduled break and won't return to the bargaining table until April. We will continue to send regular email bulletins containing useful information, resources and education about the bargaining process. 

Your current collective agreement expires on March 31st, but the terms and conditions of employment outlined in the expired agreement will continue to apply until your new contract is negotiated and put in place. That means that April 1st will be business as usual for you and your coworkers unless you hear otherwise from our union.

This break in bargaining is an intentional pause to carefully plan and strategize,especially given the current uncertain economic climate. In the meantime, we will continue to work behind the scenes to prepare next steps, including carrying out research, launching polling to take a temperature check of members and the public, plan for member town halls and webinars, and conduct a comprehensive analysis of the impacts of the provincial budget, the US tariffs, and other external economic factors.

Meet your bargaining committee
Your bargaining committee consists of elected members of our union – members like you. Read about each member of the committee, learn more about their background and what inspires and motivates them this round of bargaining and throughout their union activism.

Pink Shirt Day: Wednesday, February 26
Pink Shirt Day is an important reminder that bullying and harassment have no place in our workplaces. Unions play a critical role in combating workplace bullying and harassment. Through collective bargaining, unions can secure anti-harassment protections, enforcing workplace rights, and hold employers accountable for fostering respectful workplaces. 

On Pink Shirt Day, the Public Service Bargaining Committee members wore pink to show their ongoing commitment to ensuring all workers have safe, inclusive, and supportive workplaces.



In solidarity,

Your Public Service Bargaining Committee

Paul Finch, President and Committee Chair
Maria Bennett, Treasurer
Dean Purdy, Component 1 Vice-President
Kusam Doal, Component 5 Vice-President
Judy Fox-McGuire, Component 6 Vice-President
Mona Dykes, Component 6 Second Representative
DJ Pohl, Component 12 Vice-President
Faith Johnston, Component 12 Second Representative
Robert Davis, Component 20 Vice-President 
Douglas W. Dykens, Executive Director – Advocacy, Negotiations, Member 
Benefits and secretary to the PSBC 
Larisa Mills, Staff Representative 
Sumiko Marshall, Support Staff 

UWU/MoveUP

Did you know that more than one third of the 34,000 members of the public service have worked for the public service for less than five years? That means that up to one third of our bargaining unit may have never gone through a round of bargaining before. To ensure that all members know and understand the bargaining process, your bargaining committee encourages you to check out this new video: "Bargaining 101".

In this video, you will learn everything you need to know about the bargaining process and how we negotiate fair contracts. From determining your bargaining priorities to voting on a tentative agreement and ultimately ratifying the contract, this video will walk you through every step involved. Your bargaining committee is prepared for all eventualities, and the video outlines all possible outcomes during this round of bargaining.

What's next

There were no bargaining dates scheduled last week, but bargaining will be resuming this week in Burnaby – and next week in Victoria – with our employer, B.C.'s Public Service Agency. We expect that negotiations will continue on the non-monetary items that members like you have identified as priorities, such as dismantling the Job Evaluation Plan and replacing the current system with a modernized classification system. As always, we will continue to keep you informed every step of the way.

Hiring Freeze

As you are aware, last week the provincial government announced it will freeze hiring of any new public service employees due to the looming threat of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods (read our bulletin here). As a result of this announcement, there was a lot of media interest in this story. BCGEU President and Chair of the Public Service Bargaining Committee Paul Finch was interviewed on numerous media outlets to provide our union's perspective. Check out some of the news coverage here:

• CityNews: B.C. gov't to freeze hiring, cancel grocery rebate amid U.S. tariff threats
• CBC: B.C. cancels $1,000 grocery rebate and pauses hiring over Trump's tariff threats
• Chek News: B.C. government under hiring freeze, says premier

In solidarity, 

Your Public Service Bargaining Committee

Paul Finch, President and Committee Chair
Maria Bennett, Treasurer
Dean Purdy, Component 1 Vice-President
Kusam Doal, Component 5 Vice-President
Judy Fox-McGuire, Component 6 Vice-President
Mona Dykes, Component 6 Second Representative
DJ Pohl, Component 12 Vice-President
Faith Johnston, Component 12 1st Vice-President
Robert Davis, Component 20 Vice-President 
Douglas W. Dykens, Executive Director – Advocacy, Negotiations, Member 
Benefits and secretary to the PSBC 
Larisa Mills, Staff Representative 
Sumiko Marshall, Support Staff 

UWU/MoveUP

By popular request, we've made the decision to shift our weekly bargaining updates to Monday mornings rather than Friday afternoons. Many members have told us this would give them better opportunity to read and talk with their colleagues about the updates. However, if there are urgent happenings at the table, those will be sent when they are needed.

Steady progress on non-monetary continues as the third week of bargaining wraps

The third week of public service bargaining concluded last week in Victoria, and our bargaining committee continued to make progress on negotiations on non-monetary items that BCGEU members have set as priorities. Bargaining is on a break this week, and your bargaining committee will meet with our employer – B.C.'s Public Service Agency – again on February 18th in Burnaby.

Throughout bargaining, we've received many questions from members about who exactly we're bargaining with and who makes the decisions on our employer's side. To learn more about this, check out this week's video update where Paul Finch gives a run-down of the various bodies involved: the BC Public Service Agency (the PSA), the Public Sector Employers' Council (PSEC), and more.

Also, in last week's bulletin, we had shared an FAQ about the Job Evaluation Plan and why it needs to be replaced, but we heard from many members that they had missed it in the email. Here's the link again:
Public Service Job Evaluation Plan FAQ

Remember: If you know of a co-worker who has not been receiving these bargaining updates, please remind them to sign up to get updates by email. All members should ensure that their contact information is current in order to receive important regular updates during the bargaining process. 

In solidarity,
 
Your Public Service Bargaining Committee

Paul Finch, President and Committee Chair
Maria Bennett, Treasurer
Dean Purdy, Component 1 Vice-President
Kusam Doal, Component 5 Vice-President
Judy Fox-McGuire, Component 6 Vice-President
Mona Dykes, Component 6 Second Representative
DJ Pohl, Component 12 Vice-President
Faith Johnston, Component 12 1st Vice-President
Robert Davis, Component 20 Vice-President 
Douglas W. Dykens, Executive Director – Advocacy, Negotiations, Member 
Benefits and secretary to the PSBC 
Larisa Mills, Staff Representative 
Sumiko Marshall, Support Staff

UWU/MoveUP

We recognize that this morning’s email from Shannon Salter—referring to budget restraints, “reviewing reporting structures” and “considering opportunities for streamlining”—may have caused concern for quite a few members. 
 
This is a time of uncertainty and struggle for many of us, and we want to assure you that our union is actively engaged in this matter.
 
These economic forecasts will not impact our strategy as bargaining kicks off next week. We remain committed to negotiating a strong agreement that addresses members’ needs. 
 
Delivering on government’s commitments to effective public services starts with investing in frontline public sector workers who deliver the services B.C. residents rely on every day.
 
In recent years, excluded management positions have grown at nearly twice the rate of frontline roles (51.9% to 27.9%). Redirecting funds from management to frontline workers isn’t just common sense—it’s the most effective way to cut costs while protecting the essential services that the people who live in British Columbia depend on.
 
The deficit that B.C. is facing is the result of large infrastructure spending—which, while necessary, ends up costing taxpayers more due to inefficient procurement processes—and tax breaks on resource revenues that shortchange B.C. residents of their fair share of our province’s wealth. It is not a result of overspending on public employees.
 
BCGEU members have been falling behind the rising cost of living over the past decade, and our union is heading to the bargaining table to reverse that trend and ensure we’re strengthened for years to come.
 
When times are tough, robust public services must be there to support our neighbours and communities.
 
In solidarity,
 
Your BCGEU Public Service Bargaining Committee


Paul Finch, President and Committee Chair  
Maria Bennett, Treasurer  
Dean Purdy, Component 1 Vice-President 
Kusam Doal, Component 5 Vice-President 
Judy Fox-McGuire, Component 6 Vice-President 
Mona Dykes, Component 6 Second Representative 
DJ Pohl, Component 12 Vice-President 
Faith Johnston, Component 12 1st Vice-President 
Robert Davis, Component 20 Vice-President
Douglas W. Dykens, Executive Director – Advocacy, Negotiations, Member Benefits and Secretary to the PSBC
Sumiko Marshall, Support Staff

UWU/MoveUp

Public service bargaining kicked off yesterday in Victoria, where our union met with your employer – B.C.’s Public Service Agency (PSA) – to exchange bargaining proposals. This round of bargaining is aimed at reaching a new collective agreement for you and more than 34,000 other public service workers employed in every community across the province. Our current collective agreement is set to expire March 31, 2025. 

When the two parties first met at the bargaining table, Paul Finch, BCGEU president and chair of the BCGEU Public Service Bargaining committee, delivered opening remarks: 

“We understand the affordability crisis our members are in, and that there are chronic recruitment and retention issues. I don't need to tell anyone here about how the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis with sheriffs and court workers has hurt the administration of justice. I could go on, there's a lot of other important and noteworthy groups that have been impacted by this.” 

In his opening statements, Finch outlined the key priorities of the union in this round of bargaining: compensation that reflects the needs of a membership impacted by the affordability crisis; reasonable benefit improvements; removing the job classification system and securing all existing market adjustments and bonuses into base pay; and a rapid grievance tribunal system to ensure quick resolutions to minor disputes in contract administration. 

This week, the employer and our union are sharing our respective language proposals with each other, while all proposals of a monetary nature will be exchanged later in the bargaining process. 

In the coming days the two sides will exchange initial responses to each other’s proposals. Main table negotiations are currently scheduled through the end of February, so be sure to keep an eye on your inbox as you can expect to receive regular bargaining updates throughout negotiations.   

In the News:

• B.C. negotiating public service contracts for 400,000 union workers (CBC)  
• Bargaining kicks off for public sector workers (CBC: The Early Edition with Stephen Quinn)
• Contract negotiations begin for 34,000 BCGEU members (Global News)
• B.C. union leader says 'high probability' of dispute in public sector contract talks (CTV News)

In solidarity,   

Your Public Service Bargaining Committee  

Paul Finch, President and Committee Chair   
Maria Bennett, Treasurer   
Dean Purdy, Component 1 Vice-President  
Kusam Doal, Component 5 Vice-President  
Judy Fox-McGuire, Component 6 Vice-President  
Mona Dykes, Component 6 Second Representative  
DJ Pohl, Component 12 Vice-President  
Faith Johnston, Component 12 1st Vice-President  
Robert Davis, Component 20 Vice-President 
Douglas W. Dykens, Executive Director – Advocacy, Negotiations, Member 
Benefits and secretary to the PSBC 
Larisa Mills, Staff Representative 
Sumiko Marshall, Support Staff 

UWU/MoveUP

Over 40 delegates from communities across the province, representing the 33,000 BCGEU members who work for the BC Public Service, gathered in Burnaby last Friday to discuss priorities and strategies for bargaining our next collective agreement early next year.

BCGEU president and Public Service Bargaining committee chair Paul Finch welcomed delegates to the Public Service Bargaining Conference with opening remarks. 

"We're looking three rounds out in bargaining, and we're going to be coordinated. This is how we'll get all members to where they need to be in terms of wages and working conditions. This requires us all to understand past achievements and current challenges, and what our priorities will be this round," said Finch. "We are going to be bold, open, honest and forthright with members about our bargaining goals, and members want to be engaged in the process and ready to mobilize. This is how we are going to get the absolute best agreement that we possibly can."

Members have been incredibly engaged this round so far, through surveys, polls, small group discussions and nearly a record number of submitted proposals. It's clear that members know what they want and what they deserve. The Public Service Bargaining committee thanks each member who took the time to share their ideas and help the committee evaluate the top priorities for this round of bargaining. 

BCGEU research staff reviewed the high-level results from the bargaining survey that nearly 7,000 members completed. Members shared a variety of concerns, but their input underscored the same common theme: they want a fair and equitable collective agreement that reflects the importance of the work they do.

Well-known Vancouver pollster Mario Canseco presented delegates with a detailed summary and analysis of the recent poll of our union's public service members. Canseco walked through the benchmarks from polling from the last round of bargaining, including members' motivations and willingness to take job action. 

The Public Service Bargaining committee will continue to meet in the coming weeks to review proposals and ultimately finalize our bargaining package to bring to the table. We will keep members informed every step of the way.

See photos of the Public Service Bargaining Conference here.

In solidarity,

 
Paul Finch, President and Committee Chair
Maria Bennett, Treasurer
Dean Purdy, Component 1 Vice-President 
Kusam Doal, Component 5 Vice-President 
Judy Fox-McGuire, Component 6 Vice-President 
Mona Dykes, Component 6 Second Representative 
DJ Pohl, Component 12 Vice-President 
Faith Johnston, Component 12 1st Vice-President 
Robert Davis, Component 20 Vice-President
Douglas W. Dykens, Executive Director – Advocacy, Negotiations, Member
Benefits and Secretary to the PSBC
Sumiko Marshall, Support Staff

UWU/MoveUP

Today marks the end of the first week of public service bargaining. Please check out this important video message from BCGEU President and Chair of the Public Service Bargaining Committee Paul Finch.  In the video, Paul provides an update from the bargaining table, explains where we are in the bargaining process, and elaborates on some of the key issues for members this round, such as the removal of the job classification system and the development of a rapid grievance tribunal system. Component Bargaining Last Friday, negotiations for the five component bargaining tables with the provincial government (Public Service Agency) concluded, after a week of contract negotiations. Component agreements cover specific, mostly non-monetary, items that apply only to employees in a specific occupational group. These items primarily focus on working conditions, including the structure and hours of work. The main public service agreement – for which negotiations kicked off on Wednesday – outlines the wages, terms and conditions of employment of all members covered under the main agreement. Component agreements can cover issues that have some monetary implications, however – in a change from previous rounds of bargaining – at no component table would the PSA agree to discuss any items that were remotely monetary, insisting on referring them to the main table. The negotiations were respectful but not highly productive: we went to the table very prepared but were disappointed the employer was not willing to engage on most proposals, including those that were not explicitly monetary. We will make sure that important component issues are followed through upon at the main agreement table in the coming weeks. Below is a summary of significant negotiated changes at your component bargaining table.   Component 20 The Component 20 bargaining team was well prepared for bargaining and brought 27 proposals to the table on issues/items such as: o   boot and clothing allowances, o   locker and changing facilities, o   professional development, o   hours of work and averaging schedules, o   special certificate allowances, o   standby language, o   paid rest time earned during field deployments, o   measures that improve equity for auxiliaries with respect to particular provisions/allowances, and that improve the universality of the agreement generally by eliminating exceptions in places for certain employees (e.g., BCWS)     We also introduced a larger and more integrated package for wildfire employees (e.g., targeting base compensation for operational positions, pensionable service on OT, and auxiliary conversion) that we intend to pursue via main table negotiations.    The employer ruled out most of our proposals on the grounds of their potential monetary implications, even where these were indirect. After much back and forth, we did finally receive a counter on our proposal(s) regarding hours of work and averaging schedules, but the employer was unwilling to agree to any of the important and truly substantive adjustments our members are seeking on this language.

Component 20 bargaining committee  In solidarity,      Your Public Service Bargaining Committee      Paul Finch, President and Committee Chair    Maria Bennett, Treasurer    Dean Purdy, Component 1 Vice-President   Kusam Doal, Component 5 Vice-President   Judy Fox-McGuire, Component 6 Vice-President   Mona Dykes, Component 6 Second Representative   DJ Pohl, Component 12 Vice-President   Faith Johnston, Component 12 1st Vice-President   Robert Davis, Component 20 Vice-President  Douglas W. Dykens, Executive Director – Advocacy, Negotiations, Member  Benefits and secretary to the PSBC  Larisa Mills, Staff Representative  Sumiko Marshall, Support Staff

UWU/MoveUP