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Negotiations and mediation fail to reach collective agreement for B.C. government workers.
Vancouver (28 June 2012) - After two days of mediation failed to produce meaningful progress in negotiations with the provincial government, the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) has asked the mediator to book out.
“Your bargaining committee did not make this decision lightly,” says BCGEU President Darryl Walker. “We began negotiations with fair and reasonable proposals. We presented concrete ideas to increase provincial revenues. After six months of negotiations, which included a strike vote and two weeks of mediation, we have exhausted all options and made very little progress.”
“Our members have not had a wage increase for more than three years. Inflation has eroded their spending power by more than five per cent over that time. The government simply refuses to acknowledge the sacrifices our members have made and we are not prepared to continue falling behind,” says Walker.
“Christy Clark has hampered negotiations with her negative comments about public service workers,” says Walker. “The disgraceful compensation levels for executives at Community Living B.C. that were revealed this week is only the latest reminder of this government’s double standards.”
The BCGEU/NUPGE has proposed using deputy sheriffs in traffic safety and the expansion of public liquor store services. These two proposals would create savings and additional revenues of approximately $300 million annually. That is more than enough to fund a fair and reasonable new contract with our members. It would also produce extra revenue to fund important public services.
Although the provincial government says it wants to seek “cooperative gains” to fund improvements to the collective agreement, both of these proposals were rejected by government without explanation.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE