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VICTORIA Since January 2002, 37 collective agreements have been negotiated in the British Columbia public sector. Employees in the community social service sector recently ratified an agreement that will reduce payroll costs by seven per cent, which Labour Minister Graham Bruce said demonstrates parties can work out agreements in challenging times.
The agreement covering 15,000 workers protects vital services while providing savings of $40 million that will go towards improved services to women, aboriginals, children and families, youth, and people with physical or developmental disabilities.
I know people had to make some difficult choices, Bruce said. They had to look at what they could do personally to support the agencies they work for and the clients they serve.
At the end of the day, people decided that the most important thing was to protect services through a collective agreement everyone could live with.
Earlier this year, community-based health care workers agreed to contract changes that reduced compensation costs by 13 per cent. Bruce said he hoped other public unions still in negotiation would take a similar approach. I continue to ask people to look at these settlements and work towards reaching negotiated agreements.
Under the new agreement, union members employed by community social service agencies have improved job security, including opportunities to work for a contractor if work is contracted out. Cost savings will come through changes to sick pay and the extended health plan. New employees will now work their way up to the top wage rate in four steps over three years.
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