Proposed 3-year, 11 percent wage increase rejected by unionized Cariboo RD Staff

Courtesy of the Cariboo Regional District:

BCGEU employees voted against accepting the Cariboo Regional District’s (CRD) last contract offer to avert a strike. As a result of this vote, there is no definite timeline for when BCGEU’s strike action will cease. BCGEU may also choose to initiate disruptive job action as part of the collective bargaining process.

“We are disappointed with the result, but now we also know that our employees had a chance to accept or reject the most recent offer on the floor,” said Murray Daly, Cariboo RD's Chief Administrative Officer, “Obviously this vote didn’t go the way we hoped it would, and we will need to wait and see what BCGEU will do with this result. We will continue advocating for taxpayers in negotiating a fair deal that provides certainty on the cost of our services going forward.”

A last offer vote is the only mechanism which allows unionized employees to directly vote on an offer from an employer. All other offers made are filtered through BCGEU’s bargaining committee, and only a final agreement would be put to membership for ratification. The last offer which was rejected included proposed wage increases of 11% over three years – 5% in 2023 and then 3% in each of the next two years. Changes to other provisions of the collective agreement which had already been agreed upon at the bargaining table were also included as part of the last offer vote. According to Statistics Canada, CPI rose by 3.9% in 2023.

At the time of release, BCGEU has not communicated with the CRD about the Union’s willingness to return to the bargaining table or engage in further job action, and no revised contract offers have been made by the CRD.

CRD libraries remain closed to the public in anticipation of a walk-out by BCGEU. This is being done to protect the health and safety of library staff, particularly for rural branch libraries where site security cannot be assured during a walk-out. While libraries are closed to the public, library staff with regularly scheduled shifts are being assigned to other duties within their current job descriptions.

At this time, there is no information available about whether a walk-out will occur or if picket lines will be established. Other regional district services remain unaffected pending further job action. The CRD has issued guidance about the likely impacts to other regional services if BCGEU escalates their job action.