Bargaining
Victoria Shipyards – Bargaining Update #1
March 3, 2025
To: All MoveUP members at Victoria Shipyards
For those of you who were in attendance at the Victoria Shipyards townhall meetings on November 19, 2024, you heard the employer announce that they were looking to start bargaining early with the unions so that they could put money in the pockets of our members.
The unions, all nine of us, have been working together to review what early bargaining would look like based on the limitations that the employer has presented to us. For clarity, the employer has indicated that they would like to begin early bargaining however, they have put restrictions on what that would look like. For example, the employer has indicated that they would want the unions, nine of us, to be prepared to only present a very limited number of proposals totaling no more than nine. Essentially that would equate to a maximum of one proposal per union. Also, the employer has presented the unions with a limitation on the length of time that bargaining would occur, approximately three months. If the parties weren’t able to reach an agreement in their timeframe, then bargaining would stop and then resume at the natural time, which would be up to four months prior to expiration in accordance with the BC Labour Relations Code.
There have been discussions between the unions and the employer and we presented our positions on what we need to bargain early. We want our members to be able to get a wage increase earlier than March 2026 but we can’t agree to the limitations imposed upon us. We have to ensure that our members are represented and your needs and wants are addressed and we can’t do that without being allowed to present issues that you want brought forward in bargaining.
The unions have presented the employer with a letter indicating that we are in agreement to bargain early if the restrictions that are imposed can be removed and we participate in fulsome bargaining.
We will keep you updated as things progress.
In Solidarity,
Yudon Garie, Union Representative
