Bulletin
Settlement of MOU #15 Grievances
March 10, 2020
To: All MoveUP Members at BC Hydro & Powertech Labs
As you are aware, over the last three years, MoveUP has filed several grievances regarding the rights and entitlements of members working in construction and field work under Memorandum of Understanding #15 of your collective agreement.
Five of those grievances were scheduled to be heard at Arbitration March 9 – 13, with the remaining grievances which remained unresolved after exhausting the grievance procedure to be scheduled for arbitration dates in the future.
We are pleased to report that MoveUP and BC Hydro have successfully negotiated resolution of 19 MOU #15 grievances as part of a comprehensive settlement, without the need to go to arbitration.
Where applicable, the agreement reached will be reflected in amendments to MOU #15.
Details of the settlement are as follows:
- Employment Status
Although MOU #15 refers only to temporary employees, BC Hydro will create ten (10) new Full-Time Regular positions (6 Construction Officers and 4 OHS Specialists) covered by MOU #15.
These new FTR positions will be posted without reference to location, and will ultimately be located at the location where the successful applicant is currently based.
Priority for these positions will be given to employees who have been in a temporary MOU #15 position for more than six (6) years who can perform the work of the position. If positions remain unfilled, priority will be given to employees who have been in a temporary MOU #15 position for more than three (3) years who can perform the work of the position. Third priority will be given to those employees who have been in a temporary MOU #15 position for less than three (3) years who can perform the work of the position.
Successful applicants to these FTR positions will be entitled to displacement rights under Article 9, but bumping rights are restricted to MOU #15 positions.
The union will not file any further grievances regarding regularization of temporary MOU #15 employees until March 31, 2022, except under the terms of the agreement reached between the parties.
If any of the FTR positions in question becomes vacant during the term of the agreement, BC Hydro will post and fill the position(s) as soon as reasonably possible on the same terms as above.
- Travel Time and Expenses
Employees working at remote sites will continue to receive transportation costs to and from site at 6-week intervals.
All employees will be entitled to travel time and expenses when they first mobilize for and at final demobilization from a project.
The required project schedule duration to be entitled to travel home on company time on the final day of a shift is reduced from 10 days to 8 days. Put another way, employees working projects of 8 days on, 6 days off are now entitled to travel home during their final shift on the same basis as those working a 10/4, 14/7 or 18/10 schedule.
Employees on a project schedule are not required to travel home during their “turn-around” days. If they elect not to do so, they will be entitled to room and board or a living out allowance of $130.00/day in accordance with Article 5 of the collective agreement.
Employees on a project schedule who elect to travel home will be required to return to site on their own time. Work schedules may be adjusted by mutual agreement between the employee and their manager to accommodate travel time on the first day of a project schedule, provided it results in no additional cost to BC Hydro.
Employees on a project schedule who elect to travel home will receive travel expenses to and from site, up to a maximum of what they would have received had they taken a Living Out Allowance (ie. $130/day).
The “Free Area” language in MOU #15 will be eliminated, with travel entitlements instead tied to residence, worksite, and/or headquarters as appropriate under the collective agreement.
- Overtime Meals/Overtime Scheduling
Article 11.04(g)(1), which provides overtime meals to employees who work 2 hours or longer before or after a regular day or shift, will not apply to MOU #15 employees. All other overtime and meal provisions will continue to apply.
BC Hydro will pay a one-time payment of $100 to each MOU #15 employee who was assigned to at least one project schedule between October 15, 2017 and March 10, 2020 to account for unpaid overtime meal expenses.
In settling these grievances, we note that several members advised the union that they were seeing their overtime hours cut as a result of the employer having to pay overtime meals.
- Temporary Promotion Pay
Full-Time Regular employees who are working in a temporary position for longer than three (3) years will receive length-of-service increases in their temporary job to address the salary discrepancies that arise between temporary and Regular workers in the same job.
- Project Schedule Notice
The notice period for changes to shifts and project schedules is increased from 48 hours to 72 hours, with overtime applying if insufficient notice is given.
- Individual Grievances
BC Hydro and MoveUP also reached agreement on several individual grievances filed by the union on behalf of its members working under MOU #15. We will be contacting each impacted member individually to advise them of the resolution reached in their case.
We are pleased to have been able to finally resolve these matters and look forward to seeing them implemented in the near future. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact a job steward or Union Representative Tony Geluch.
In solidarity,
Tony Geluch
Union Representative