The Community Social Services Bargaining Association (CSSBA) is pleased to announce that a tentative agreement has been reached for Aboriginal Services with the Community Social Services Employers' Association (CSSEA).

Aboriginal Services is one of three subsectors in Community Social Services along with Community Living and General Services. The tentative agreements reached earlier this month for Community Living and General Services also apply to Aboriginal Services, but the parties set aside time dedicated to bargaining items specific to Indigenous agencies.

"Indigenous agencies have been chronically underfunded and for too long, workers have not been given the support needed to provide culturally appropriate care," says Andrea Duncan, BCGEU, Chair of the negotiating committee. "With the provisions set out in this tentative agreement, we can finally begin to address these issues, and improve working conditions so that members can better advocate for children and families in their care."

Highlights of the tentative agreement include:

• Changing "Aboriginal" to "Indigenous" in all areas of the collective agreement.
• April 1, 2019 – Temporary Market Adjustment for C6 delegated social workers to Grid 25.
• April 1, 2021 – Temporary Market Adjustment C6 delegated social workers to Grid 25.
• April 1, 2021 – Increases to Growth Progression for delegated social workers as follows:

              o   Step 1 from Grid 19 to Grid 20
              o   Step 2 from Grid 20 to Grid 21
              o   Step 3 from Grid 21 to Grid 22
              o   Step 4 from Grid 22 to Grid 23

• Effective April 1, 2021 members will be entitled to maternity and parental leave allowance per the Public Service Agreement.
• The introduction of cultural competence as a determining factor in the appointment policy.
• A framework to discuss cultural competence at labour management.
• Language to highlight the employer's ability to account for an applicant's previous experience as a mechanism to address recruitment and retention concerns for delegated social worker positions.
• The renewal of the Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society (VACFSS) specific Workload Review Committee Letter of Understanding (LOU) with additional language to identify the parameters of the committee as well as provide opportunities for other Indigenous agencies to share best practices.
• Indigenous alternate dispute resolution language broadened to acknowledge the diversity among Indigenous communities and to acknowledge culturally specific processes.

Visit the CSS Fair Deal website to find more bargaining information and resources. http://www.cssfairdeal.ca/

Please share this email with your co-workers. Members are also encouraged to keep their email information up to date. To provide updated contact information, please visit the member portal at my.bcgeu.ca.

In solidarity,

The CSSBA Negotiating Committee

UWU/MoveUP