Sisters, Brothers and Friends,

I am writing to update you on the ongoing dispute between our union and the Wildfire Management Branch regarding the April 2016 memo: "Interim Direction to Staff re: ETO Average Hours of Work"

Over the past few weeks, we have held discussions with Wildfire regarding our very serious concerns with this memo and their interpretation of the hours of work language. Those discussions about appropriate hours of work are continuing and we hope to reach a resolution that protects your rights under the collective agreement.

In the meantime, we have filed a grievance regarding the same issues. Should we be unable to reach an agreement through our discussions, the grievance will give us another means to address those concerns.
                                                                                                                    
In addition to our union-filed grievance, if your schedule is changed in a way that contravenes the collective agreement, we encourage you to file an individual grievance as well.

If you have any questions we encourage you to speak to your local BCGEU steward or Staff Representative.  We will update you further as changes occur.

In Solidarity

George D Buis
BC Government & Services Union
Vice President Environmental, Technical & Operational

UNIFOR467/MoveUP