We are pleased to advise that we have been able to move the start of bargaining to June 25^th.
 
Your bargaining committee met again on April 16, 17 and 18 to discuss the bargaining process and to continue the development of our proposals. We will be meeting again on June 18 and 19 followed by negotiations with the Employer starting June 25, 2024.
 
We also met with members at the Thrift Store, Food Bank, Shelters, and Supportive Housing on April 18. Thank you to everyone who was able to make it out. We appreciate your involvement and interest. We hope to meet the rest of you during the process of negotiating a first collective agreement.
 
We have decided to survey the members because we want to hear from you. The survey will be your opportunity to have a direct impact on the bargaining process. The information that you provide will be kept confidential and will not be accessible to your Employer. The survey will be an electronic – SurveyMonkey, and the survey link will be embedded in the bulletin announcing the survey sent out later tis week.  Please take the time to complete it as the responses will provide us with the information to determine your bargaining priorities.
 
During our April 18 meetings we were asked about the bargaining progress. There are normally four stages to bargaining:
 
1.            Pre-Bargaining or Preparation
We are in the pre-bargaining stage. It is during this stage that proposals are developed. But before that occurs your bargaining committee gathers information by reviewing changes to applicable law, other collective agreements with the same Employer, and seeking member input.  A reminder that the bargaining survey will be distributed later this week.
 
2.            Bargaining
Once the proposals have been developed, we will sit down with your Employer to exchange proposals to begin negotiations to reach a tentative settlement which will then be put to a member ratification vote. We are scheduled to meet with your Employer on June 25^th.
3.            Voting and Ratification
The terms and conditions contained in the settlement do not form your first collective agreement until ratified by the members. Once ratified, however, the terms and conditions will form your first collective agreement and become legally binding on the Employer and, the Union and its members.
 
4.            Post-Ratification
The collective agreement is drafted and signed off. The changes are typically effective upon ratification not when the collective agreement has been signed off and printed. Preparation for the next bargaining round normally starts six (6) months before expiry.
 
We will continue to keep you updated as we progress through this process. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact any of us directly.
 
If you know a BCGEU member who didn’t receive this bulletin, please forward it to them. If you are a BCGEU member who didn’t receive the bulletin directly, please update your email address with your Union by logging into the Member Portal here.
 
In solidarity,

Zoe Towle, Negotiations Staff Representative



Download PDF of notice here

UWU/MoveUP