ETA talks in BC turn to identification of positions and staff

At recent meetings of the Workforce Adjustment Committee, the employer indicated that the list of transferring positions and identified programs staff should be established by the end of March. The union wants members to be notified by their directors in one-to-one meetings and has pressed the employer to keep to that commitment.

The list of positions to be transferred will be provided to the province right away. The employee names and contact information will be given to the province by the employer in sufficient time for the preparation of letters of offer.

The Committee met on March 13 & 14 and again on March 19 with further meetings planned for the weeks ahead. These meetings are an opportunity for the union to make our case for the best possible Employee Transfer Agreement. We have reviewed the employers’ draft language for the ETA and made many, many suggestions.

Brother Howie West from the PSAC in Ottawa was invited by CEIU to attend the meetings on March 13 & 14. His experience from the Ontario ETA process was a solid resource for the entire Committee as it worked through the details of an ETA for BC. Brother James Infantino, the PSAC pension specialist also from Ottawa attended a meeting between CEIU and BCGEU on March 18 and the Committee meeting on March 19 where pension matters were a primary focus.

The job descriptions and classifications of the provincial positions are still pending and the employer has committed to pursuing those with the province. Wage protection is a fundamental issue for the union and will remain so throughout this process. The companion issue to that is the matching of our members skills and abilities to comparable jobs with the province.

The Committee has also turned its attention to some logistical issues surrounding the transfer. We want the employers to ensure that steps are taken in a timely manner to ensure that pay and benefits for transferring employees are seamless.

The union has been responding to member’s email questions and invite the members to continue to send their questions via the CEIU Regional Union office to Julie Paul, CEIU National Union Representative at: paulj@ceiu-seic.ca.

Sister Pat Wakefield, CEIU National Vice-president for BC/YT Region is co-drafting with the employer a detailed communication on the ETA which will be released in a few days.

As always, we thank the members for their comments and questions. Please be assured the union is committed to doing our very best to keep your issues in the forefront during this transfer to the province.