Message from the President

Autumn is here! Summer has come and gone, and the crimson and burnt-orange hues of fall hint at the onset of winter. Here in the East Kootenays, on the traditional territories of the Ktunaxa Nation and the Shuswap Band, the colour phases of the larch trees dominate the scenery. It really is a beautiful place to call home. 

 
I hope this issue of The Professional finds you well, engaged in your work and fulfilled by your family and friends. The PEA is surveying members this fall to understand their priorities and support for the PEA. It is through your participation, ideas, resolutions and support that the PEA will continue to thrive as BC’s union for professionals.
 
Relationship building with provincial and national labour communities helps the PEA meet a key initiative of our strategic plan: to build the power and influence of our organization to better represent members and serve the public interest. The PEA recently became a member of the Professional Unions Network of Canada (PUNC), a network of unions and associations dedicated to sharing and developing strategies to support public service professionals from across Canada. The affiliation gives the PEA access to resources and ideas from a professional union membership base more than 100,000 members strong. This past August, the PEA hosted a meeting of PUNC’s steering committee, which includes representatives from these groups:

• Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC)
• AMAPCEO (Association of Professional Employees of Ontario)
• Syndicat de professionnelles et professionels du gouvernement du Québec (SPGQ)
• Association of Canadian Financial Officers (ACFO-ACAF)

This meeting provided an opportunity to highlight the PEA’s work, to explore the history and foundations of the labour movement in BC and to collaborate on national strategies for promoting the work and value of professionals. We look forward to working with PUNC and to continuing to broaden our strategic alliances with labour organizations.

As you read through The Professional, I encourage you to take the time to appreciate your union, its history, the importance of collective bargaining and the value of the services our members provide. At a time when union density in British Columbia is declining and professional work can be precarious and contracted out, we must work together to improve employment standards and ensure that our members and the professional community in British Columbia continues to grow and strive. 

Shawna LaRade

Keeping up with the Librarians

PEA Librarians Modernize Library Services in the Okanagan

Words Jessica Natale Woollard

Photos Melissa McHugh

Board-game nights, podcast sessions, Mandarin classes, astrology lectures. With offerings like these, public libraries are rewriting their story. The twenty-first century library is still a house of books, but it’s not only that. It’s a hub for learning and entertainment in every medium—print, digital and face-to-face. It’s a place for personal and professional development leading to creative and forward-thinking communities. And it’s the neighbourhood living room, one of the only public spaces where everyone, no matter who, is invited to learn, linger and socialize without spending a nickel.

Through innovative programming and services, PEA librarians at the Okanagan Regional Library (ORL) are contributing to the rebranding of public libraries, enticing people to discover the new and improved ways they can benefit from this public resource.

Stephanie Thoreson and Jamie Stuart are two of the ORL’s PEA librarians. Thoreson works with youth at the Vernon branch, and Stuart is a reference librarian at the main branch in Kelowna. Both began working in public libraries in the early 2010s after completing master of library science degrees at the University of Western Ontario. Both colleagues say they were attracted to librarianship in part because of its public-service aspect.

Born and raised in the Lower Mainland, Stuart worked as a teacher overseas for eight years before attending library school. He says his decision to work in public libraries instead of academic libraries was inspired by a professor who was passionate about the role libraries play in public life. Thoreson, originally from Sault Ste. Marie, had contemplated studying social work, but finds the library fulfills her career aspiration to provide people with resources to improve their lives.

What Thoreson and Stuart both note about their careers is that working in a public library is different from what they imagined, because libraries have changed. When Stuart was hired in 2013, for example, the ORL had no mandate for offering programs for the public. But, a review of the system around the same time revealed that the library would need to become more innovative. “It meant completely altering the workflow of the reference librarians,” Stuart says, “taking them off the desk and bringing them out into the community.” 

Three days into his position at ORL, Stuart was asked to develop the library’s first program under the public programming model. He chose one he’d designed for a project in library school based on one of his favourite hobbies: board gaming.

“I had one gentleman show up for my first board-gaming program,” Stuart remembers. Six years later, the program has an online community of 900 members, with an average of 30 to 35 people a week who come down to play. “It’s a community, and people become friends and socialize outside the library,” Stuart says.

Today, all of the ORL’s 30 branches across the Okanagan offer similar activities, including video game and role playing nights, rap battles, magic shows, knitting clubs and language learning. (Stuart’s Mandarin Mondays program in Kelowna has been featured in the local media several times.) The library has also introduced programs that support BC’s K–12 curriculum, and regularly hosts guest presentations by Elders from First Nations as well as local professionals and researchers from all backgrounds.

Stuart notes that a benefit of the new programming is that it taps into populations who haven’t been into the library in a long time, and draws them back. “People didn’t realize they can go down (to the library) on any given night and there will be something there of interest . . . We’re staying within our mandate to serve the public as broadly as we can,” he says.

Another contributor to the transformation of libraries is the rise of technology. Far from heralding what many feared would be the end of libraries, digital technologies have provided new ways for people to learn. The ORL offers ebooks, audiobooks and digital magazines, newspapers, and research tools. If patrons need help using these electronic products, they can sign up for one-on-one assistance with library staff.

In July, the main branch in Kelowna opened ORL Makerspace, which gives library cardholders access to technologies like 3D printers, audio and digital recording equipment, and a Cricut Maker—a cutting, drawing and scoring machine for hands-on projects. Other branches have other specialty technologies arriving shorly, such as the sound booth at Thoreson’s Vernon branch, where people can record their own audiobook, podcast or song.

“We break the barrier of how to use technology,” Thoreson explains. “It brings new people into the library and gives them more opportunity to learn and access information.”

There’s another benefit to digital resources, she adds: reaching people who can’t travel to the library. Because ORL is a regional system, many patrons live in rural areas without easy access to a library branch. In response, the library offers one-on-one tech support to assist these patrons to benefit from digital resources without needing to come to the library in person.

Both Stuart and Thoreson see digital resources and services as a positive step for libraries. Whether people read print or ebooks or listen to audiobooks, they are engaging with language, information and learning in a way that works best for them. “I’m a big believer in lifelong learning,” Thoreson says. “You want to expand your mind constantly.”

Being able to personalize learning experiences for patrons is a key element of the modern library’s success, she continues. “Depending on who you are and what your needs are, we can find something to help you in some way,” she explains. “If the library can’t help directly, the librarians will connect you to people and resources who can.”

The question arises occasionally whether libraries are still relevant in the age of Google. Thoreson thinks a visit to her busy branch would illustrate their continuing relevance. “When we first open, there’s usually a rush for the computers,” she says. “There’s lots of people picking up their holds, coming to story time, or joining an adult program like a book club or information session. Sometimes we have a group of people with physical disabilities learning about different ways of communicating with technology.”

Adds Thoreson, “We are a community, a place where people can connect.”

Young Workers at Camp Jubilee

Words Jessica Natale Woolard

Photos Kara Imhof

Mount Seymour, blanketed by conifers, rises above the blue waters of Indian Arm in North Vancouver. This idyllic scene is the backdrop for the BC Federation of Labour’s Young Workers’ School (YWS), held each year at Camp Jubilee’s 128 acres of oceanfront property.

“You had cabins, bunk beds and shared meals, and got to know all these different people,” explains PEA member Kara Imhof, an electrical engineer with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in Coquitlam. “It was like summer camp as a kid. It was an amazing experience.”

Workers under 30 years old who are affiliates of the BCFED can attend the weekend-long program. Participants choose a course of study to help them build skills related to the labour movement. In between the classes, they develop their confidence and leadership expertise through activities such as a high-ropes course, archery, kayaking, hikes, team games and a nightly campfire.

Held June 14 to 16, the 2019 YWS offered different streams of study for participants to choose from, including mental health in the workplace; negotiating with the employer; public speaking; protest, civil disobedience and the legal limit of freedom of expression; and the importance of one-on-one conversation in the drive to organize.

Chuka Ejeckam, the BCFED’s director of research and policy, says the labour movement’s commitment to improving work-life is “passed from generation to generation. The Young Workers’ School offers a chance for some of the newest members of the labour movement to strengthen their connections with one another, gain knowledge and skills they can apply to their work, and celebrate all that ties the labour movement together in collective struggle.”

Nearly a thousand young workers have participated in YWS since the program began. In 2019, there were 100 participants from unions throughout British Columbia, including three PEA members: Imhof (GLP), Chantelle Forseille (GLP) and Mariah Taschuk (UVic).

Mount Seymour, blanketed by conifers, rises above the blue waters of Indian Arm in North Vancouver. This idyllic scene is the backdrop for the BC Federation of Labour’s Young Workers’ School (YWS), held each year at Camp Jubilee’s 128 acres of oceanfront property.

“You had cabins, bunk beds and shared meals, and got to know all these different people,” explains PEA member Kara Imhof, an electrical engineer with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in Coquitlam. “It was like summer camp as a kid. It was an amazing experience.”

Workers under 30 years old who are affiliates of the BCFED can attend the weekend-long program. Participants choose a course of study to help them build skills related to the labour movement. In between the classes, they develop their confidence and leadership expertise through activities such as a high-ropes course, archery, kayaking, hikes, team games and a nightly campfire.

Held June 14 to 16, the 2019 YWS offered different streams of study for participants to choose from, including mental health in the workplace; negotiating with the employer; public speaking; protest, civil disobedience and the legal limit of freedom of expression; and the importance of one-on-one conversation in the drive to organize.

Chuka Ejeckam, the BCFED’s director of research and policy, says the labour movement’s commitment to improving work-life is “passed from generation to generation. The Young Workers’ School offers a chance for some of the newest members of the labour movement to strengthen their connections with one another, gain knowledge and skills they can apply to their work, and celebrate all that ties the labour movement together in collective struggle.”

Nearly a thousand young workers have participated in YWS since the program began. In 2019, there were 100 participants from unions throughout British Columbia, including three PEA members: Imhof (GLP), Chantelle Forseille (GLP) and Mariah Taschuk (UVic).

Imhof participated in the mental health in the workplace stream and also took part in a canoeing excursion and the high-ropes course. “I cannot say how wonderful it was to meet other young workers in unions,” she says. “You got to know people who work in the service industry and those who work with kids in the teachers’ union. We all had different stories and experiences in the labour movement.”

Chantelle Forseille, a planning forester for BC Timber Sales in Kamloops, agrees that the opportunity to build relationships was invaluable at YWS.

“The camp is good at breaking people up,” she explains, noting she connected with people in her courses on negotiating as well as through kayaking and a nature walk. “It was a good way to get out of my comfort zone and talk to people. You get to learn a little more about yourself and how you do in those kinds of situations. It’s a good way to get you out of your bubble.”

Forseille attended YWS on the advice of her husband, who attended in 2018 and recommended it as a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.” She says she’s gained skills to bring back to her work, particularly around speaking with stakeholders and helping others understand your point of view in a respectful way.

Both Forseille and Imhof say they exchanged contact information with new friends to stay in touch with and keep the conversation going. They both highly recommend the experience to other young workers. Imhof returns to her summer camp analogy: “If you’re someone who didn’t go to summer camp, this would be an amazing experience for you. It was an amazing experience for me. I’ll be putting my name in again next year.”

Professional Unions Network of Canada

On August 29, members of the Professional Union Network of Canada met in Victoria at the PEA office. 

Member unions include the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada; the Association of Canadian Financial Officers; Association of Management, Administrative and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario; Syndicat de professionnelles et professionnels du gouvernement du Québec; and the PEA.

PROUD AT PRIDE

Every year since 2013, the PEA has participated in the Victoria Pride Parade. This year the PEA participated in Pride in Victoria and Prince George.

The PEA in the 2000s

Looking back at some of the events and people that shaped the PEA over the past 45 years  

Excerpt from Duty with Dignity: The Professional Employees Association in British Columbia, 1974–2014, by Ben Isitt

“Since 2000, the PEA has matured as an organization, consolidating its presence among professionals in the BC public service and the education, health and legal services sectors. At the same time, PEA has been challenged by turbulence in provincial government policies, notably following Gordon Campbell’s election as premier in 2001 and again in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008, as commodity prices dipped and Christy Clark’s Liberal government sought to contain government spending by restraining growth in public-sector employment and incomes.”

-Duty with Dignity

Professionals During Campbell's New Era

In May 2001, the BC Liberal Party, led by former Vancouver mayor Gordon Campbell, was elected to form the government of British Columbia with a resounding 77 of 79 seats in the legislature. The New Democratic Party, which had governed BC since 1991, was reduced to a meagre two seats and lost its official opposition status. In the months and years that followed, the Campbell government embarked on what the Globe and Mail newspaper described as an agenda of “legislative vandalism,” opening up legally binding collective agreements and slashing programs, services and jobs across the public sector.

Immediately after being sworn in, the new government embarked on a core-services review, announcing that all ministries, with the exception of health and education, were instructed to prepare budget scenarios based on cuts of 20 percent, 35 percent and 50 percent over a three-year period. In January 2002, the Campbell government announced its intention to eliminate 11,700 positions from the public service and cut $1.9-billion from the budget over a three-year period. The government also introduced the notorious Bills 28 and 29 in the house, which tore up the collective agreements of workers in the health and education sectors (before being ultimately deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada).

Faced with this existential threat, the PEA joined with other labour and community organizations to mobilize against the government’s agenda. Professionals attended massive demonstrations in Victoria and Vancouver—the capital’s largest mass protests since Operation Solidarity two decades earlier. On February 23, 2002, an estimated 40,000 people converged on the provincial legislature in a day of action coordinated by the BC Federation of Labour. “I urge each and every PEA member to become active and involved with efforts in their community to fight back against this government,” PEA president Kathryn Danchuk wrote. 

Beyond the Public Service

The upheaval caused by the Liberal government’s agenda of cutbacks and privatization extended to every PEA bargaining unit—revealing the importance of provincial government funding levels and provincial labour laws to the services and working lives of professionals outside the public service. 

In the Legal Services Society (LSS) bargaining unit, PEA members faced a government-appointed trustee with a mandate of phasing out legal aid services for as many as 40,000 people. Legal aid funding was targeted to be cut from $88 million to $54 million over three years. The proposed cuts would eliminate three-quarters of LSS's staff lawyer positions and reduce the number of LSS-funded offices in BC from 60 to seven. While the PEA launched a court challenge to block the cuts, and groups and individuals from the BC Law Society to the Chief Justice of Canada urged the government to reconsider its plans, the cuts were implemented. While a portion of this funding was restored in 2005, another massive organizational restructuring in 2009 saw the closure of BC's six remaining legal aid offices and reduced the PEA’s second-oldest bargaining unit from 28 lawyers to 14. Additional cuts in subsequent years would further erode this bargaining unit and legal aid services.

As the PEA grappled with theses upheavals, it continued to attend to the collective agreements and bargaining and workplace needs of its members. In the autumn of 2001, a contract was successfully concluded at the University of Victoria that provided improvements to a range of benefits and a salary increase averaging five percent over three years. For other PEA members, paramedicals in the 10,000-member-strong multi-union association (later renamed the Health Sciences Professional Bargaining Association), there was no room for negotiation as the provincial government legislated a contract via Bill 15, the Health Care Services Collective Agreement Act, in August 2001. 

For the dozen lawyers employed in the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program, the intransigence of the private firm contracted by the provincial government to deliver the program, Themis Program Management, prompted a strike vote and 72 hours' strike notice in 2011 before a contract was settled with assistance of a mediator. 

Political Action and New Alliances 

One outcome of this difficult period in the PEA’s history was a renewed initiative to affiliate to the BC Federation of Labour. Following a convention decision in May 2004 directing the Association to “investigate” its relationship to the central labour body (and consistent with a referendum question approved by the membership in 1980), the PEA entered into talks with the Federation, which represented 485,000 workers, or 85 per cent, of BC's unionized labour force. However, as a result of its long-held ambivalence over whether or not to engage with the broader labour movement, the PEA would not formalize its affiliation with the BCFED until 2013.

In the midst of these affiliation talks, the PEA staved off another existential threat when the BC government announced its intention to introduce legislation that have would eliminated the Government Licensed Professionals bargaining unit and merged its members into another government union. The PEA expended $295,000 on an aggressive and ultimately successful public relations campaign to oppose the plan. “The significance of the Association’s victory is not to be underestimated,” The Professional noted in announcing that the government would not be proceeding with the legislative changes. At the time, the GLP accounted for 73 percent of PEA’s dues base.

Growing the PEA

Throughout this period, the PEA continued to organize new groups of professionals. In August 2000, the Association received certification from the BC Labour Relations Board (LRB) to represent 50 teachers employed at St. Margaret’s School, a private non-denominational girls’ school in Greater Victoria. Before negotiations opened, the bargaining unit was expanded by the LRB with an additional 16 non-instructional staff, including a library assistant, clerical staff, maintenance workers and bus drivers. (In 2013, residence staff would also join the bargaining unit.) This represented a rare example of a PEA bargaining unit that included all of the employees in a workplace. Negotiations for a first contract opened in the spring of 2001 and concluded three months later with the ratification of a three-year agreement that provided for salary increases of 10.5 per cent.

Other bargaining units were formed in the 2000s, including a unit representing lawyers at the Law Society of BC, who voted to join the PEA in April 2006. Negotiations proceeded slowly, with much acrimony between the Law Society lawyers and negotiators representing the society’s board. In October 2006, the lawyers filed a complaint with the LRB alleging that the society was failing to bargain in good faith; in March 2007, they voted in favour of job action in a strike vote. A tentative agreement reached after nine months of negotiations was rejected by the lawyers in July 2007. Finally, in mid-2008, the lawyers signed their first contract with the Law Society. 

Another bargaining unit created around the same time was composed of a group of professionals employed by the Oil and Gas Commission, who retained certification when the commission was transferred out of the public service in 2006. As part of the transfer, the PEA was granted successorship rights by the LRB to represent the employees as a distinct bargaining unit. •

2019 Scholarship and Bursary Winners

For 26 years the PEA has been giving scholarships and bursaries to PEA members and their families. Scholarships are awarded based on the results of our annual essay contest.

This year, the Education Committee selected the following topic for the essay contest: Barriers still exist for equity-seeking groups to employment in British Columbia. Is it appropriate for the labour movement to focus on improving the lives of all BC workers, and if so, how can unions take the lead on equity employment?

In addition to scholarships, the PEA provides bursaries to PEA members who are registered or are in the process of registering in a part-time post-secondary educational degree or diploma program or other professional development education. This year, nine members were awarded bursaries. These members are Akindele Balogun, GLP; Naomi Bar-Hanan, SMS; Miranda Harvey, UVic; Katia Jitlina, GLP; Joanne Ranson, GLP; Eric Scott, GLP; Karla Stout, UVic; Kristin Vandeloo, UVic; and Warren Walsh, GLP.

Read the winning essays at pea.org/scholarships

Kira Aird

As the recipient of the PEA’s 2019 scholarship award, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the tremendous support that you have provided me through this award. It is my honor to be the recipient of the award this year.

Parisa Sabokrooh

I am very honoured to be a recipient of the PEA scholarship. It will help me in continuing my education and working toward my academic and professional goals. But more importantly, it encourages me to know that my work is valuable. Thank you!

Molly Tanner

Thank you to the PEA for the financial support that they are providing. I am a second year student majoring in elementary education at North Island College in Courtenay. This scholarship money will help me with my tuition and living expenses for the coming year, and for subsequent years where I plan to attend the University of Victoria to complete my university degree.

Gabriel Harrison

I am incredibly thankful to the PEA Union and its members to be the recipient of this scholarship. I am very excited to have been accepted into the Faculty of Environment at Simon Fraser University where I will pursue a degree in Environmental Science starting in September. This scholarship helps me pay for tuition and residence so I can continue my education. Thank you!

Kara Labelle

I would like to thank the PEA for its generous support towards my academic and career pursuits. I completed my first year of engineering in April 2019 at the University of Victoria and am looking forward to continuing my studies this upcoming fall. Once again, I would like to emphasize my gratitude towards the PEA: its contribution has enabled me to continue my educational endeavors.

Sarah Grady

Thank you for this opportunity, it is much appreciated.

Robyn Bartle

Thank you for the PEA scholarship. This scholarship enables me to continue into the second year of a bachelor of science in nursing at Vancouver Island University.

BARGAINING LESSONS AND LOOKING FORWARD

Scott McCannell

The last couple of years at the PEA have been active on the bargaining front with five settlements achieved.  A handful of PEA chapters will are bargaining or will start bargaining shortly (Family Maintenance Enforcement Program Lawyers, Oil and Gas Commission, Legal Services Society). Members always place a priority on collective bargaining, and the PEA executive has established some goals in the 2019 PEA strategic plan that include the following:

• Build bargaining capacity across chapters through opportunities that encourage sharing knowledge, experiences and best practices;
   
• Develop forward-looking bargaining strategies with chapter leadership; and
   
• Identify strengths and weaknesses of PEA collective bargaining.

PEA staff have invited chapter bargaining committees to participate in detailed bargaining debrief discussions so that the gathered perspectives inform how we can continuously improve PEA bargaining processes. These reviews will be completed upon settlement for chapters in bargaining.

As part of striving for improvement, the PEA executive and staff will be considering key themes that have emerged from the various bargaining debrief sessions.  Some of these key themes are:

• Bargaining committees should be in place at least 12-18 months in advance of the start of bargaining to enable thorough preparation and to engage members to build momentum for actual bargaining.
   
• Bargaining committee training should include a variety of topics:  labour relations, negotiating skills, decision making and leadership skills.
   
• Review the bargaining history of past settlements to help committees decide priorities.
   
• Create training and dialogue opportunities across chapters.
   
• Utilize outside facilitators or labour education offerings for bargaining committee training where chapters prefer.
   
• Adding technologies such as document sharing platforms.
   
• Bargaining outcomes in both the short and long term are aided by other actions including: lobbying politicians and senior management, emphasizing ongoing communications and meaningful interactions with members and other unions.
   
• Gathering and articulating member’s stories to support bargaining proposals remains important and effective.
   
• Local reps play a key role and should be engaged and updated on a regular basis.
   
• Diversity on committees is critical and should reflect professions, gender, geography, family status, stage of career/age.
   
• Defining clear roles for committee members (e.g. chair-person).
   
• Some committees emphasized the need for more costing capacity to assist PEA bargaining teams. Some identified the need to have a full understanding of PSEC mandates which have shaped public sector bargaining in BC for many years.
   
• Ongoing membership meetings throughout the process are important and in some chapters more meetings could have been useful.

In our bargaining committee debrief discussions we heard comments that bargaining is challenging – it is a demanding, sometimes adversarial, and sometimes a lengthy and frustrating process.  Balancing that, almost without exception, was that bargaining committee members from the last round learned about bargaining and labour relations, grew professionally and personally and found the opportunity to serve their colleagues by stepping up to the bargaining committee, rewarding.

PEA staff will be working with chapters to start planning for the next rounds of bargaining and will be reflecting debrief comments in bringing forward revisions to PEA Bargaining Procedures for PEA Executive consideration.  Staff are also working with the PEA Education Committee to incorporate bargaining education in the 2020 PEA Education Conference.

We hope this review and related changes will better position PEA bargaining committee in the future.  Thanks again to all PEA members that have participated in collective bargaining.

Chapter Updates

FAMILY MAINTENANCE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM

Bargaining

At press time, the PEA was still in discussions with the employer to secure bargaining dates. The PEA has requested a meeting with Minister Eby to address the transition to a crown corporation and wage inequities.

Annual general meeting

The FMEP AGM is on October 24. Information on the location and time can be found in internal email, or by contacting the PEA office.

GOVERNMENT LICENSED PROFESSIONALS

BC Budget Consultation Report

The PEA provided submissions to Government on the 2020 BC Budget for professional reliance and legal aid. The Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services Report on the Budget 2020 Consultation included a significant recommendation towards adequate staffing. The recommendation was to “Allocate more resources to natural resource ministries, including increasing staffing, in order to improve permitting, compliance and oversight.”

GLP Grants and Donations

GLP members can submit requests for funding of up to $200 for an activity or event. The GLP supports a wide range of activities, including children’s parties and sporting events.

For the full eligibility policy, visit pea.org/chapters/glp/grant-form. All grant and donation requests shall be submitted via the online GLP Grants and Donations form.

Remember to submit your online request early and before December 2019 for year-end events!

HEALTH SCIENCE PROFESSIONALS

Executive

Laura Kuypers has temporarily stepped down from the Chapter and PEA executives. Any member interested in assuming the role of Secretary-Treasurer temporarily should contact Labour Relations Officer Rhiannon Bray.

Professional Development

HSP members are encouraged to submit to the ongoing HSPBA Professional Development Fund. Members are eligible for up to $250 in professional development funding. Further details are available at pea.org/hsp-programs.

HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE'S STAFF UNION 

Annual General Meeting

The HESU AGM will be held on December 4 at 5:30 p.m. at the La Perla Ballroom (810 Quayside Dr #204, New Westminster, BC). On the agenda will be executive elections.

LAW SOCIETY LAWYERS

New Labour Relations Officer

From time to time the PEA adjusts the Labour Relations Officer portfolios to better suit the evolving needs of our membership.

Your Labour Relations Officer is now Rhiannon Bray. She can be reached at 250-385-8791 ext. 204 or via email at rbray@pea.org.

A Labour Relations Officer is a PEA staff member with experience in bargaining, labour relations and member servicing. Members in need of assistance are encouraged to seek out their Labour Relations Officer.

LEGAL SERVICES SOCIETY

Strike vote and bargaining campaign

On September 30, the PEA launched a strike vote with members. Results are expected October 16.

The PEA also launched Justice 4 Justice Workers, a campaign to call on government to close the gap between lawyers at the Legal Services Society and Crown Counsel. Sign the open letter at pea.org/justice.

OIL AND GAS COMMISSION 

Bargaining

Tentative bargaining dates have been set for late 2019 and early 2020. LRO Rhiannon Bray recently visited OGC members in the Okanagan to discuss the upcoming round of bargaining. A member teleconference to review bargaining proposals will be held prior to bargaining.

OKANAGAN REGIONAL LIBRARIANS

Annual General Meeting

Thank you to members who attended the ORL PEA Annual General Meeting on Monday, September 30 at the Prestige Hotel in Vernon.

The PEA is working with the ORL chapter to oppose the discriminatory child programming policy submitted by the ORL CEO Don Nettleton.

ST. MARGARET'S SCHOOL

Annual General Meeting

The SMS AGM will be held on November 26 at 4:00 p.m. Members are invited to the 2019 AGM. Join for pizza, drinks and door prizes. More details to follow by email.

UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA

Annual General Meeting

The 2019 UVic Chapter AGM is on Wednesday, November 6 from 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. in the Arbutus & Queenswood Room, Cadboro Commons. All members are welcome and lunch will be provided.

Strike Action

Thank you to all members who engaged over potential strike action by CUPE 4163. A tentative settlement was reached between CUPE and the University in mid-September.

PEA Updates

STRIKE PAY INCREASE

PEA’s strike pay has been increased from $125 a day, less the cost of benefits, to $150 a day, less the cost of benefits. This change reflects cost of living increases since the last strike pay increase in 2009.

EXECUTIVE CHANGES

Thank you to outgoing Association Executive members John Nalleweg, Sheldon Martell, Susan Dempsey and James Laitinen for their contributions on the Association Executive. They recently ended their terms in June 2019. Cliff Haman, UVic, recently joined the PEA Executive.

POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION UPDATES

The Association Executive approved a Bullying and Harassment Policy. The Bullying and harassment policy will cover all PEA events. Members can find the new policy on our website at pea.org/bullying. A full review of all PEA policites is currently underway with the Policy Review Committee. A PEA Operations Continuity Plan had been finalized and addresses continuity of PEA services to members in the event of office closure or major emergency.

Bargaining preparations are beginning for the PEA and the PEA Staff Union, the Union Workers Union. The contract for PEA’s staff expires on December 31, 2019.

The Association Executive approved $2000 funding for the Public Interest Research Desk of the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives