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Video message from Paul Finch, chair of your bargaining committee - Component 20 - BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU)


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