Bulletin
Regarding today’s announcement of new Enhanced Care coverage model
February 6, 2020
To: All MoveUP members at ICBC
Today, like all of you, we learned through a government announcement of the plan to overhaul B.C.’s insurance product to the Enhanced Care coverage model.
On first inspection, this looks to be a positive move for both the public as well as our members who work at ICBC.
We have been campaigning for nearly a year now on the importance of fixing our public car insurance system. People want to see rates come down but, at the same time, need to have the peace of mind that if they are involved in an accident that they will be taken care of.
People should not have to worry about whether they can afford treatment or if they will have sufficient coverage for wage losses if they can’t go to work.
These changes also address a significant issue which is affordability, as demonstrated with there being no increase to the basic insurance rate this year in contrast to the massive hikes we have seen with private insurers across Canada.
Together with the announcements made last week to strengthen the Fairness Commission and provide pre-litigation payments, while still offering people flexibility to consult a lawyer later, these are all steps that put the interests of people first.
For our members, today’s announcement shows that there is a long-term commitment and plan for ICBC from this government that will ensure its stability and viability in the long run. That means maintaining and protecting the jobs of over 5,000 people across our province.
With all that said, we understand that today’s announcement will bring major changes to the operations of ICBC.
Over the next few weeks and months, we will work with your employer to carefully examine what those impacts will mean for our members in terms of evolving roles and responsibilities in the long-term. We will also pay close attention to the effect on workload in the short-term as the changes progress.
We realize that many of you will have questions and concerns and we want to be responsive to those. We invite you to email us at enhancedcarechanges@moveuptogether.ca with your questions, comments, and suggestions.
While we may not be able to answer specifics about what these changes mean at this moment, we will do our best to make sure we keep you as updated as possible.
It is our understanding from ICBC that these changes will not affect anyone’s immediate employment or other critical issues such as wage, benefits, or pensions. We have been told there will be no job losses at this time and, in fact, ICBC will continue to be hiring as they have been.
Given the significance of today’s announcement, we will take the time to make sure that any potential effects of the changes are addressed appropriately by the new collective agreement. Bargaining will continue in March and this will be at the top of our list of issues to address.
Our members remain our top priority. While we support the spirit of the initiatives of today’s announcements and share a common goal of making sure our public insurer is strong and healthy, we have made it very clear that any effects as a result of these changes will not come at the detriment of our members.
We understand that this may be a stressful time for you with all these changes occurring. If you need to contact the Homewood Employee Family & Assistance Program (EFAP), please call 1-866-644-0326.
In solidarity,
David Black, President
Annette Toth, Vice-President
Kevin Smyth, Senior Union Representative