Many members have approached the bargaining committee since the ratification meeting to ask questions about the tentative agreement reached with the Employer. Since the agreement failed to ratify, we would like to meet with you to answer questions about the agreement and about the possibility of job action, including a full strike.

We will be holding a membership meeting on Monday, May 24 between 2:30pm and 4pm for members to join anytime to ask questions. Due to public health restrictions the meeting will again take place over Zoom. Please talk to Erlinda Frijas about ways to join the meeting from Royale Peninsula.

You can also join the meeting by calling in from your phone or using the zoom app or a web browser from either your phone or computer.

Membership Meeting Details
Date: Monday, May 24
Time: Drop in between 2:30pm – 4:00pm
How: Zoom video or phone

Check your email or ask a member of the bargaining committee for details.

To download the Zoom mobile app for Android click here.

To download the Zoom mobile app for iPhone click here.

To join a meeting from your internet browser, click here and enter the meeting ID and

passcode.

If you're having trouble logging into Zoom, there is support for joining a meeting, and frequently asked questions.

Questions and Answers about the Tentative Agreement:

Q: Why are there no wage increases in the tentative agreement?

A: It is unusual to have a renewed collective agreement without a wage increase. In this case, the Government of BC is paying the difference between the wages in your collective agreement and the wage you're being paid with wage levelling. Any increases to the wage in the collective agreement less than your wage levelled rate would NOT go to you.

If wage levelling ends before March 31, 2023, your collective agreement will expire, and the Union and the Employer will meet to negotiate wages. We negotiated this to make sure that you have the ability to take job action in the future if wage levelling ends and your Employer does not agree to fair wages.

If wage levelling does not end, your collective agreement will expire March 31, 2023, and we will negotiate a renewal as normal.

Q: Why is there no pension in the tentative agreement?

A: Your bargaining committee put forward a proposal for your Employer to apply to the BC Target Benefit Pension Plan and your Employer rejected that proposal. Your committee focused on other monetary gains, which we achieved. Without pursuing job action, we did not believe a pension was achievable, and made the decision to drop our proposal.

Q: Why do the shift differentials only apply to some shifts and not all shifts?

A: An industry wide standard in health care is to apply shift differentials for shifts that are less desirable because of the hours, the lack of management or shifts that are chronically hard to fill. The committee used this standard when proposing the changes to the shift premiums. None of the sectoral health agreements and no independent health site that we could find has premiums for the day shift.

The changes to the night shift differentials will ensure that more people are eligible for the premium.

Q: Why aren't workload concerns addressed in the tentative agreement?

A: We did have some productive discussions about workload with your Employer. If you have workload concerns, you need to raise them with your supervisor or manager first and ask them to prioritize your workload. If you have a chronically unmanageable workload, you can also raise those concerns with your Union/Management Committee or Health and Safety Committee. WorkSafeBC does have regulations concerning workload, so the Health and Safety Committee can investigate ongoing workload problems.

If you have any other questions, please ask them at the membership meeting this Monday, or ask one of the members of the bargaining committee.

Sheila Matthen, the staff representative from BCGEU who is the spokesperson for you renewal collective agreement, will be available at the membership meeting to answer questions about job action as well as the tentative agreement.

In solidarity,

Tereasa Greco, Bargaining Committee Chair
Erlinda Frijas, Bargaining Committee Member
Darlene Thomas, Bargaining Committee Member
Sheila Matthen, Staff Representative – Negotiations

Download PDF of notice here 

UWU/MoveUP