Expanding the Law Society PEA Membership
Dear PEA Members,
On March 18, non-unionized employees working at LSBC filed an application at the Labour Relations Board to join the Law Society chapter of the Professional Employees Association. This group, comprising 140 members, decided on this step in order to win better wages, benefits and the protections, security, and greater voice that come with union membership.
The purpose of this email is to answer some initial questions about this group joining the Law Society chapter.
What does this mean for Law Society members?
- More members in the Law Society chapter means greater power for Law Society lawyers, paralegals and officers for the next round of collective bargaining. A larger chapter will translate into more leverage, making it possible to win an even stronger collective agreement for everyone.
What happens next?
- Within five days there will be a hearing at the Labour Relations Board where officials will review the signed membership cards and the application, and the employer will have an opportunity to respond. If there are no major barriers or objections raised—and we don’t believe there will be any that can prevent the application’s success—the certification will be approved, and the Law Society chapter will be expanded to include all non-unionized employees.
Will this affect our collective agreement?
- Our collective agreement will not change. Members from the new group will form a committee to bargain an interim agreement with the employer, specifically to deal with items that are not covered under the current collective agreement (like classification-specific pay scales). A member of the existing bargaining unit will be invited to join to ensure the experience and perspective of the current membership is included.
If you have any questions, you can speak with Labour Relations Officer Rhiannon Bray, (rbrary@pea.org, 250-385-8791 ext 204).
Sincerely,
Rhiannon Bray
Labour Relations Officer
