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As we near the end of the first week of job action, your bargaining committee has some updates and information to share with you.
Updates:
- How you can support fellow members on strike
- Our new bargaining ads have launched
- Strike pay and direct deposit
- The Professional Employees’ Association (PEA) has issued 72-hour notice
- Picketing and virtual work
How you can support fellow members on strike
The current job action is our bargaining unit’s first multi-day strike since the 1980s and there has been a lot of enthusiasm on picket lines and intense interest from media.
Members on the picket lines have been energized by the solidarity of their fellow BCGEU members as well as the overwhelming support from across the labour movement in B.C. and Canada. And members of the bargaining committee have been working hard to get your message out to the public through local, provincial and national media. Check out two of our favourite stories from CHEK News and Global.
If your workplace isn’t on strike, here are ways that you can help support the picket lines and apply pressure on the PSA to get back to the table with a fair offer:
- Visit a picket line – If you live or work close to one of the four picket lines currently operating, stop by in your free time to show your support. The Delta and Richmond lines are operating 24/7 but Kamloops and Victoria have limited hours. Talk to a picket captain to find out if there are specific ways you can help out.
- Reach out to your MLA. You can help put pressure on government to come back to the bargaining table with a serious offer. Click here to send a letter to your MLA
- Show/wear your solidarity. Use our COLA Zoom/Teams background or wear a COLA button. Don’t have a COLA button yet? Contact your area office to get one and show your support for one of our key demands. COLA stickers are also available.
New ads supporting bargaining
As part of our campaign to build public support and pressure the B.C. government, our union has produced a new phase of radio and TV advertisements:
The new ads have rolled out over the last couple of weeks, and you should be seeing and hearing them right now.
Strike pay and direct deposit
Our union has received a lot of inquiries about how strike pay currently works and what will happen if we expand job action to include more members.
Members who are currently picketing will receive physical cheques. These will be delivered to picket lines and members will be notified when they can pick them up.
Our union is working with a third-party payroll platform to set up electronic funds transfer/direct deposit for strike pay, and we anticipate that it will be ready soon.
When the direct deposit system is completed, members who are currently picketing will be switched over to direct deposit.
For security reasons, once the direct deposit system is set up sign-ups will be managed by the payroll vendor—not through Member Portal or any other BCGEU membership system. The payroll vender will send an email directly to the email address we have on file for you so please make sure your email address is up to date.
Please note:
- Your employer will likely lock you out of your work email during a strike so, unless you provide your personal email to your union, you will miss important information about how to register for strike pay, picket line updates, and more. Log into the Member Portal to check what information is on file. If you’ve forgotten your password, you can reset it here. If you don't yet have a Member Portal account, click here to sign up today.
- Even during job action your union will never request your banking information. Please don’t send your banking information to the BCGEU.
Respect picket lines! PEA issues 72-hours’ strike notice
Earlier this week, the Professional Employees Association (PEA) issued 72 hours’ strike notice. Our two unions have been working closely together and we anticipate that any job action they engage in will be coordinated with our job action.
However, since many of you work side-by-side with PEA members, there’s always the possibility that you will unexpectedly encounter a PEA picket line even though your worksite is not being picketed by the BCGEU. Here’s what to do if that happens:
- Do not cross the picket line. Do not report to work. Call or email your supervisor and inform them you have encountered a picket line and will not be crossing, which is your right under our collective agreement.
- Find a BCGEU picket captain or contact your BCGEU Area Office to find out how you can join the picket line to support the striking workers.
- BCGEU will provide picket signs. When you wear one, please make it clear that you are "in support/solidarity", and not "on strike"
- If you are off work because of a picket line at your worksite, you are eligible for strike pay from the BCGEU. To get strike pay, please report to the picket captains to sign the picket roster at the start and end of the day of job action.
Finally, a reminder: As union members, it is essential that we respect any picket lines we encounter. All BCGEU members have terms in their collective agreements that allow them to refuse to cross a picket line—you have the right to not cross a picket line, and your union expects you to exercise that right at every opportunity. Crossing a picket line is a serious offense for any union member. BCGEU members who cross a picket line are subject to discipline, which can include up to being expelled from the union.
Picketing and virtual work
Now that virtual work is more common, your committee has received a number of questions about what to do when you work remotely and there is a picket line at your physical worksite.
Regardless of where you are physically working, you must not cross a picket line by working remotely. This applies to picket lines that our union establishes or those put up by another union.
If you encounter or hear about a picket line at your workplace, please contact your BCGEU picket captain for details on where to go and what duties to perform as a remote worker.
Questions? Our Strike FAQ is always being added to with new responses. If you have additional questions not covered by the FAQ, you can contact publicservice2022@bcgeu.ca.
In solidarity,
Your BCGEU Public Service Bargaining Committee
Stephanie Smith, President
Paul Finch, Treasurer
Judy Phipps, Executive Vice President
Dean Purdy, Vice President - Component 1
Kusam Doal, Vice President - Component 5
Judy Fox-McGuire, Vice President - Component 6
Kayla Woodruff, Member at Large - Component 6
Maria Middlemiss, Vice President - Component 12
Matt Damario, Component 12
Robert Davis, Vice President - Component 20
Michael Eso, Secretary and Lead Negotiator
Lisa Lane, Support Staff
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