Cariboo RD and BCGEU ratify new collective agreement

Courtesy of the Cariboo Regional District:

The Cariboo Regional District and the BC General and Service Employees’ Union have ratified a new collective agreement, which will see a 12.5% wage increase over a three-year term. BCGEU staff ratified the agreement on Wednesday, July 3. This puts an end to the strike by BCGEU members, which lasted for over seven weeks.

The 12.5% wage increase will occur as follows:

• 5% as of November 1, 2023 (retroactive, except for time spent on strike)
• 4% as of November 1, 2024
• 3.5% as of November 1, 2025

The new Collective Agreement also changes language covering on-call pay rates and eligibility, overtime for call-in work, clarifications for compassionate care leave eligibility, and a health and wellness expense allowance. 

As of today (July 4), all employees will return to work, and regional district services will begin to resume. Libraries are set to reopen to full service beginning on Tuesday, July 9.

BCGEU rejects Cariboo Regional District’s latest contract offer despite agreement on wages

Courtesy of the Cariboo Regional District:

Talks broke down today with the BC General Employees’ Union, which has now set its members up for a seventh week of strike action. Although both parties were ready to agree on wages, BCGEU walked away from the table over specific terms they demanded from the settlement agreement.  

“I cannot express enough how truly hopeful I was for a resolution and how exceptionally disappointed I am that talks yet again broke down or that once again the Union approached negotiations with perceivably little interest in meeting us in the middle,” said Murray Daly, Chief Administrative Officer of the Cariboo Regional District, “Despite significant improvements to our offer for wage increases, the Union has moved its offers in the opposite direction, demanding more than it had asked for at the start of the strike.”

The rejected settlement agreement would have seen unionized employees’ wages increased by 12.5% over three years. As a result, the Union has strongly indicated that strike action will continue for a seventh week.

The Cariboo Regional District remains committed to achieving a fair agreement for both its employees and citizens, and remains committed to negotiating such an agreement at the bargaining table.

BCGEU sets picket line at Cariboo RD's Williams Lake Office

Courtesy of the Cariboo Regional District:

As of 8:00 a.m. this morning, BCGEU has set up a picket line at the Cariboo Regional District’s office in Williams Lake. At this time, picket lines have only been set up at this location, and the CRD’s other offices have not been impacted.

The situation may change daily. We will continue providing updates as information becomes available, and will provide information about any locations which are being impacted by picketing.

As picket lines are limited only to the Williams Lake office, the service impacts will vary from our initial guidance, which was issued on May 8. Regular CRD business will continue to be conducted from the Quesnel and 100 Mile House offices.

Regardless, strike action taken by the Union will not impact the following services:

• Fire Departments will not be affected, because they are staffed by volunteer firefighters and contract Fire Chiefs, and will continue with training and fire protection efforts.
• Our landfills and transfer stations will not be impacted because they are operated by independent contractors, whose employees are not party to the CRD’s collective agreement with BCGEU. Transfer stations and landfills will continue to operate at regular hours, and services will not be impacted by the strike. For hours of operation, please visit our Hours of Operation webpage.
• Operations, maintenance, and emergency repairs will continue to be provided to customers of the CRD’s 16 water and sewer systems. Please note that emergencies can be reported after hours by calling 1-800-665-1636 and select option 5 from the automated menu.
• Central Cariboo Search and Rescue will operate normally, as it is staffed by volunteers.

The Regional District’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) will still function in the event of an emergency. Work will also continue to prepare for the upcoming wildfire season and respond to current wildfire activity.

Libraries remain closed, no picket lines set up

While picket lines have not been set up at any libraries, CRD libraries remain closed to the public and library staff with scheduled shifts are continuing to work. Libraries were closed on May 9 to ensure the safety of staff in rural and remote areas in the event of a full walk-out, and will remain closed until further notice. Library support services staff working from the Williams Lake office are participating in the current picket line.

Impacted Regional District Services can be accessed here

Cariboo Regional District Workers Reject Employer’s Unfair Final Offer - from BCGEU

 From the BC General Employees Union:

Yesterday, local government workers, who have been bargaining with the Cariboo Regional District (CRD) since January, blocked the Regional District's attempts to ram through a deal that would have threatened the workers' financial security and risked exacerbating recruitment and retention issues.

The workers, who are unionized with the B.C. General Employees' Union (BCGEU), cover 80,252 square kilometers in this region, providing services to Quesnel, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House and other surrounding communities. Yesterday, the members voted against the employer's Final Offer, as they stand together in the fight for vital improvements required to better services that locals need. 

"From waste management and library services to utilities, on to wildfire response and flood mitigation, our members do everything they can to keep the region safe and vibrant," says BCGEU Treasurer Paul Finch. "They are truly the caretakers of the North, and in a disaster, we would be defenseless without them. But they can only continue to work in our community if they can actually afford to call the Cariboo Region home. The Regional District's Final Offer was not going to provide the financial security they need to do this." 

As it stands, many CRD departments are understaffed and overworked. The region cannot afford to lose workers, especially as wildfire season approaches. "How can our members in the Emergency Operation Centre keep their communities safe if they don't have proper staffing?" says Finch. "This work is stressful enough – being denied vital resources to do the work doesn't help."

In bargaining, the CRD workers have been fighting for critical language that would help offset financial pressures if the Region's cost-of-living skyrockets again, reducing the risk of high staff turnover, which can destabilize local services. "The Cariboo Region needs community-supporting collective agreements to attract and retain skilled and passionate people," says Finch. 

Talks first hit a wall when the CRD tried strongarming members into accepting unacceptable cuts to disability-benefits. A successful strike vote pushed the employer to stand down from the cuts, but they wouldn't meet members in the middle on compensation, refusing inflation-matching protections, forcing the BCGEU members to serve 72-hour strike notice on May 6. 

"Our members do not take strikes lightly, but if they're forced to picket - if that's what it takes to achieve the improvements they need to properly service the Cariboo - they will," says Finch, adding: "Residents fund the CRD. They expect their taxpayer dollars to go directly towards the services they desperately need. And they expect their neighbours who deliver those services to be treated with respect and fairness." 

Yesterday (May 9), CRD workers started limited job actions with an overtime ban as a first step in actioning their strike vote. In contrast to what the employer has been saying in the public, CRD staff are not picketing any services right now. Despite employees showing up to work, the Regional District forced staff to close libraries to the public.

BCGEU members will continue to try and bargain with the Regional District, but if the (Regional) District is unwilling to offer a fair deal, members may choose to advance their strike action with picketing in the future. 

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.

BCGEU serves 72 hrs. strike notice upon Cariboo Regional District

Courtesy of the Cariboo Regional District:

The Cariboo Regional District (“CRD”) has been served with a 72-hour strike notice from the BC General and Service Employees Union (“BCGEU”), which represents the regional district’s unionized employees. In order to avert a strike, the CRD has initiated a last offer vote as permitted under the BC Labour Relations Code. A last offer vote permits the CRD’s unionized employees with a fair opportunity to directly vote on the CRD’s most recent offer to BCGEU’s bargaining committee.

The final issue of contention is wage increases, which has stalled negotiations. BCGEU’s executive has been intent on strike action despite the CRD adjusting its offers at the negotiating table.

“We are committed to the Collective Bargaining process and reaching a fair agreement, and are empowering our employees to consider our latest offer,” said Murray Daly, Chief Administrative Officer, “The deal on the table represents a fair commitment to address concerns about the cost of living while still providing certainty to our taxpayers – which include our employees – about the costs of CRD services.”

The last offer vote will be conducted by the BC Labour Relations Board with the CRD’s unionized employees from 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday to 12:00 p.m. on Thursday. Because the strike notice will be in effect as of 9:53 a.m. on Thursday, May 9, members of the public should expect some disruption to CRD services.

The strike will not impact the operation of the CRD’s fire departments, water and sewer systems, or landfills and transfer stations. The Regional District’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) will also function in the event of an emergency.

Libraries will be closed on Thursday, May 9, since the strike will be in effect before regular opening times. Additionally, unionized employees who leave their designated workplaces after 9:53 a.m. on Thursday may not cross BCGEU’s picket lines, which could impact service delivery for specific departments, particularly building inspection, bylaw enforcement and planning services.

More information about the strike, service delivery impacts, and the results of the last offer vote will be made available at a later time. To stay up to date on regional district news, you can sign up for our e-newsletter online at www.cariboord.ca/subscribe.