BC Hydro + Powertech – Bargaining Update # 15 – Post Townhall Update

In response to the unanswered questions from last night, here is a brief summary:

1. All wages and overtime will be paid retroactively.
2. Living out and accommodation allowances are retroactive to the dates set out in the MOA.
3. The GTT adjustment from Group 11 Step 1 to Step 2, will not apply to Design GTT’s who graduated prior to the date of ratification. Their salary will not change as there is no extra funding in the mandate.
4. The Health Spending Credit is taxable and non-pensionable. It does not require receipts or employer oversight and may be used at your discretion, although it is intended for wellness and paramedical expenses.
5. Our goal was to improve wages, benefits, and overall terms for all MoveUP members across all groups and classifications, which we did! There was not a penny left on the table.

For full details, please see the Memorandum of Agreement.

1. Public Sector Mandate Bargaining review:

• The BC public sector bargaining mandate is established through PSEC, this mandate sets the maximum funding available for wages, benefits, and other compensation improvements for all public sector bargaining units. This mandate is the same for MoveUP and IBEW, including BCGEU, HEU, CUPE BC, BCNU, and BCTF.
• Employers cannot exceed the mandate, even if they wanted to. The Provincial Government will not allow or approve any agreement that exceeds the monetary mandate as they would then be required to give the same increases to all other public sector unions, even after they had settled their bargaining. Every public sector collective agreement has a “Me Too” clause similar to the one at the back of our contract.
• We focused on fairly allocating the available funding between wages, benefits, low-wage redress, and other improvements in a way that addresses the priorities identified by several members in our survey.

2. Low wage redress:

We negotiated a low wage redress for our lowest paid groups, 4,5,6 and 7 which is a permanent increase to the wage grid funded under the mandate and is in addition to the 3% general wage increase.  We also removed the min step for groups 8 and above. This low-wage redress directs money to the lowest paid employees in the company which meets the definition of Low Wage Redress. It permanently raises the wage floor, reduces the time required to reach top pay, and improves lifetime earnings in the future.

3. Why did the agreement take so long:

The employer sought significant concessions, but your committee took a strong position, resulting in a month at the Labour Board on essential services mediation with both MoveUP and the IBEW. This signalled strike readiness. Ultimately, the employer withdrew its concessions at the last hour and agreed to the benefits, low-wage redress, and other improvements.

Think of the old adage “Haste makes waste.” It’s easy to bargain a bad contract quickly, and we wanted to make sure that we extracted every dollar available at the table for our members. Public sector bargaining is also a slow process due to the multiple levels of government involvement and approval.

Your committee put in countless hours, late into the evening and on weekends and away from their families to prepare, argue and successfully push back against the Employer’s attempt at gutting our contract. We are proud of what was achieved and firmly believe this agreement delivers meaningful gains for our membership. Your bargaining committee unanimously recommends ratification.

4. Voting:

Voting takes place online on the MoveUP Member Portal. Please log in to make sure you have access.

If you have not created a Member Portal account, please follow these instructions and do so before the vote opens.

Voting will open on Friday, June 12 at 8:30 a.m. and close on Friday, June 19 at 4:30 p.m.

In solidarity,

Andrea McKenna, Executive Board
Anderson Charles, Executive Board
Kim McInroy, Executive Board
Carol Brown, Executive Councillor
Kelly Cammack, Executive Councillor
Luc Vail, Executive Councillor
Mike Novak, Union Representative
Rysa Kronebusch, VP Utilities

File Number: 25-BCH-BARG-BLTN-Barg-Update-15-June-9

Union Label: km/usw2009

Reply to: kmallory@moveuptogether.ca