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NEWS RELEASE
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For Immediate Release July 30, 2010 |
Ministry of Finance
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COPE RATIFIES AGREEMENT WITH BC HYDRO
VICTORIA – A two-year agreement under the Province’s 2010 mandate has been ratified between BC Hydro and members of the Canadian Office and Professional Employees (COPE), announced Finance Minister Colin Hansen.
“I’m pleased that negotiators have ratified another agreement that is within our current mandate,” said Hansen. “While the signs of economic recovery are certainly encouraging, fiscal restraint is still needed until government revenues increase and I think negotiators on both sides of the table recognize that.”
The 2,083 members of COPE Local 378 are employed as administrative workers and financial analysts, as well as technical and environmental specialists involved in planning, operating and maintaining the province’s power transmission systems from centres located throughout B.C.
A two-year agreement with Local 258 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) was ratified in April. IBEW represents almost 1,900 full-time BC Hydro employees. These workers provide a variety of services that ensure electricity for the province, including meter technicians, power line technicians, construction workers and truck drivers.
“These employees perform work critical to the province’s economy, so this agreement is very good news,” said Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Bill Bennett. “We appreciate the unions and management working together and doing their part to help British Columbia emerge from this recession even stronger.”
“The people of BC Hydro work hard every day to provide a reliable supply of electricity for British Columbians across the province,” said David Cobb, president and CEO of BC Hydro. “This agreement will ensure labour stability, and that benefits all of us.”
Government has already announced its intention to control spending on wages during this round of bargaining. To protect jobs and preserve vital services British Columbians depend on, government does not have any funding for new wage increases as collective agreements are renewed.
There are approximately 310,000 unionized workers in occupations throughout B.C.’s public sector, the great majority of which have agreements that expire between March 31, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2010. Just over half of B.C.’s public sector employees have now renegotiated agreements that were set to expire in 2010, including major agreements in the health sector and the public service.
Updated bargaining information is available at http://www.aved.gov.bc.ca/psec/bargaining2010/.
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Media Contacts:
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Sarah Harrison Communications Director Ministry of Finance 250 356-2821 |
Susan Danard Media Relations BC Hydro 604 623-4220
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.
