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Visa Centre staff join growing number of Vancity BCGEU/NUPGE members.
Vancouver (15 July 2014) — Employees at the Vancity Visa Centre, including the credit and risk teams, voted 86 per cent in favour of joining the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) in late June.
Ninety-one Vancity Visa call centre employees join the over 500 Vancity staff already represented by BCGEU/NUPGE
The ninety-one employees of the Vancity Visa call centre, based in Vancouver, are now part of a group of over 500 Vancity staff who are represented by the BCGEU/NUPGE.
“Workers in financial institutions have been joining our union because they see the value of having a voice in their workplace,” said BCGEU President Stephanie Smith. “They understand that important gains for workers are made through collective bargaining and protected through solidarity in the workplace.”
Harp Dhillon, a long-time Vancity employee who has been a BCGEU/NUPGE steward in the Member Services Centre for five years, assisted with the organizing drive. “I’ve shared the same floor with the Visa workers for a few years now and it’s great to see them organize to achieve the same right to negotiate their working conditions that we have,” said Dhillon.
Workers want to have a say in important workplace decisions that affect them
Vancity Visa staff like Aimmey Chu, who was a lead inside committee organizer, wanted to join the BCGEU/NUPGE to have a say in important workplace issues such as new policies, workload and compensation.
“We're thrilled to be joining our colleagues in Member Services as BCGEU/NUPGE members,” said Chu. “Vancity Visa employees are excited to select stewards to actively improve our workplace.”
The new BCCGEU/NUPGE members work in the Vancity Visa Cardholder Care, Visa Cardholder Credit, and Visa Cardholder Collections and Fraud departments. They now have access to the Vancity collective agreement and will be negotiating specific terms for their departments. The entire Vancity bargaining unit will renegotiate the collective agreement in late 2015.
“We’re proud to represent Vancity workers and we’re happy to now welcome the Vancity Visa team to the union,” said BCGEU President Smith.
Non-union staff at other financial institutions encouraged to join BCGEU/NUPGE
Join the growing number of workers who are choosing the BCGEU/NUPGE to get fairness and respect in the workplace!
Call Jonny at 778-240-2279 or e-mail organizing@bcgeu.ca to find out how you can benefit from a collective agreement and union representation.
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