Update

Your bargaining committee continues to preparation for negotiations with the employer to renew the collective agreement. In its most recent meetings, your committee:

• met with your BCGEU Component 4 vice-president, local chairs and BCGEU staff to help coordinate engagement with you;
• learned from one of the BCGEU's pension specialists about the BC Target Benefit Pension Plan; and
• continued reviewing the collective agreement.

BC Target Benefit Pension Plan

Pension plans promote the accumulation of an adequate retirement income. The BCGEU sponsors its own pension plan, the BC Target Benefit Pension Plan. Enrollment in the Plan is one of the monetary items your committee is considering proposing at the bargaining table.

When members retire with a target benefit plan, instead of taking their money out of the plan and having to invest it (which is how a defined contribution plan such as a group RRSP works), they advise the plan administrator that they are retiring and the plan pays them a monthly lifetime pension. Under a target benefit plan, monthly pension amounts might go up or down, depending on the plan's long-term financial position.

The contribution rate for the Plan gets set by the union and employer in bargaining. Under the rules of the Plan, the minimum matching contribution rate is 2%. Using the minimum rate as an example, 2% is deducted from each paycheque and, together with an additional matching 2% paid by the employer, deposited into the Pension Fund. In other words, members' mandatory pension plan contributions are matched 100% by the employer!

More information about the BC Target Benefit Pension Plan can be found here. Please let a member of your bargaining committee know if you have any questions about the Plan.

Next Steps

Remaining committee pre-bargaining preparations include:

• continuing reviewing the collective agreement;
• conducting a mini-survey on your priorities for extended health and welfare benefits;
• carefully reviewing all survey feedback on your bargaining priorities; and
• drafting written proposals to potentially take to the bargaining table.

We will also be reviewing and responding to a letter from your employer proposing a short-term extension to the current contract. Your bargaining committee is scheduled to meet again on April 14 and 15, and again on April 29 and 30, to continue and hopefully finish its pre-bargaining preparations. We will keep you informed as our work progresses.

Thanks again for your patience, support and solidarity throughout this lengthy process. If you have any questions or concerns about this bulletin or the bargaining process generally, please reach out to an elected member of your bargaining committee. If you do not know how to contact your bargaining committee members, please speak with a steward at your worksite, or a BCGEU local chair or area office staff representative if your worksite does not have a steward.

In solidarity,

Tina Campbell, Bargaining Committee Chair
Heather de Lange, Bargaining Committee Member
Colleen Sarrazin, Bargaining Committee Member
Ryan Stewart, Staff Representative, Negotiations

Download PDF of notice here 

UWU/MoveUP