A number of unions in the public sector are currently or soon will be negotiating contracts with government as their members celebrated Labour Day. Many are pushing for raises to keep up with inflation.
The B.C. Teachers Federation’s contract expired in June and B.C.’s nurses have been working without a contract since earlier this year.
In addition, West Vancouver bus drivers have started job action and say they are ready to escalate the strike as negotiations continue to falter.
Meanwhile, Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart was at the city’s Trout Lake Park on Monday for a Labour Day event.
“Labour has been an essential part of keeping our city strong and moving forward,” he said.
Kennedy said all collective agreements at the City of Vancouver are currently stable, except for one small contract.
“Unions have been essential for our well-being through COVID, whether it’s health-care workers, city workers, engineering crews, you name it, firefighters, so the best thing we can do is keep talking, understand where there may be points of tension and then listen.”
In a positive step, a “tentative” deal was reached late Thursday evening between nine unions representing 60,000 health-care workers and the provincial government.Around 90 per cent of those workers are represented by the Hospital Employees’ Union.
HEU secretary-business manager Meena Brisard said Thursday the new three-year agreement provides for inflation-sensitive wage increases along with a number of measures to tackle staffing shortages and burnout.
President of the BC Teachers Federation, Clint Johnston told Global News Monday that districts are still experiencing teacher shortages and staffing issues.
“We think it’s pretty squarely on the government and the employer. Between the two of them they need to make sure there’s enough money there to pay a salary that means people can live in the community they live in,” he said.
“We live in one of the most expensive jurisdictions in the world now, and it’s more than just Metro Vancouver. There are housing issues all over our province, so you need a salary that makes people think they can work and live, and you also need a workload that doesn’t burn people out.”
Johnston said the two sides are going back to the bargaining table on Sept. 22.