preparing for the fight ahead

Executive Board Update

Preparing for the Fight Ahead

Dear Members,
 
E-Comm’s staffing situation remains at critical levels where forced overtime shifts are occurring more and more frequently as members burnout from working excessive amounts of overtime. Everbridge staffing messages are frequently urgently calling for staff several times a day with non-operational shifts reaching unacceptable levels.

  • Since June 1, 2022, there have been over nine hundred everbridge overtime messages sent to members.
  • Since June 1, 2022, there have been over one hundred urgent or non-operational everbridge overtime messages sent to members.
  • From June 1, 2022 to August 24, 2022, there have been seventy possible forced overtime messages.
  • From July 1, 2022 to September 5, 2022, nine out of ten weekends have had the possibility of forced overtime.
  • It is difficult to determine how many forced overtime shifts have been worked as sometimes they are issued and then rescinded but it is becoming a more and more frequent occurrence.


This summer there have been several unprecedented enhancements. However, all of those enhancements are time limited and set to expire in the coming months. We have requested management agree to extend these temporary measures and make further enhancements to be able to retain current employees. However, it is unknown if they will do so. For full details on the different agreements please see the bottom of this email.

  • Shift Differential Enhancements Expire on September 21, 2022, for all employees in all departments.
  • Overtime Callout Enhancements Expire on September 21, 2022, which applies for members working in select operations positions.
  • Psychological Support Program Enhancements Expires on December 31, 2022, for all employees in all departments:
  • Retention LOU Enhancements Expire on December 31, 2022, for all employees in all departments.


We are all working harder than ever with less support as the cost-of-living skyrockets, and we are forced to make tough decisions for ourselves as well as our families in one of the most expensive places to live in the world. In the April 2022 bargaining survey, 82% of respondents indicated that they had avoided health treatments for themselves or their dependents due to out-of-pocket costs, and, shockingly, 80% of all respondents indicated that they are paying 50% or more of their monthly household income towards housing.
 
Our Collective Agreement expires on December 31, 2022, and the Union is shifting gears to focus on making lasting change in this new agreement to address the long-standing difficulties recruiting and importantly retaining our skilled members who work so hard in every department whether that be in operations, business administration, or technology services. The Bargaining Committee has been doing an immense amount of hard work drafting proposals, collecting collective agreement comparators, collecting comparable job descriptions, researching enhancements to benefits, monitoring economic reports (CPI, inflation, etc.), and more to prepare for the upcoming negotiations.
 
The Union’s collective strength comes from you and the principle that all union members are equal. Throughout this process, our resolve will undoubtedly be challenged as there will be issues that management may use to seek to divide us. Ultimately, our goal is to make sure every one of our jobs and classifications are attractive and competitive so that we can stabilize staffing levels and provide the best emergency communications services to the people who live in British Columbia and the agencies that we serve.
 
These improvements will not come easy. We will need everyone united to contribute to this process and be successful. For more information, please join us at the Union’s Annual General Meeting being held on September 19, 2022, at 8pm via Zoom to get an update from the Bargaining Committee. On September 19, we also invite you to wear your Union T-Shirts to show we are united in fighting for our jobs and public safety.
 
Register Now for the Annual General Meeting on September 19, 2022 at 8pm here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcpdu-prjMrEtwQtjzRWnIXsv8p27uZGYKu
 
Do you need a union t-shirt to wear on September 19, 2022?
Email us at executive@ecpbc.ca with your work location and how we can best get a t-shirt to you.
 
Your Bargaining Committee and Executive Board are seeking suggestions for bargaining campaign slogans. The suggestions will be considered by the Bargaining Committee and Executive Board.
Please provide your suggestions by 2pm on September 2, 2022 by this suggestion form:  https://forms.office.com/r/RMpmdqdUKg

Executive Board
Donald Grant, President
Sheldon Miller, Vice-President
Carrie James, Secretary Treasurer
Akash Gill, Recording Secretary
Katherine Ramsay, Health & Safety Coordinator

Bargaining Committee
Ted Rivers, Bargaining Committee
Heidi Fritsch, Bargaining Committee
Carrie James, Bargaining Committee

Temporary Enhancements
 
Shift Differential Enhancements Expire on September 21, 2022, for all employees in all departments:

  • $10.00 per hour for all regular hours required to be worked between 1800 hours and 0600 hours the following day from Sunday to Thursday
  • $10.00 per hour for all regular hours required to be worked between 0600 hours and 1800 hours on Saturday and Sunday days
  • $20.00 per hour for all regular hours required to be worked between 1800 hours and 0600 hours the following day on Friday and Saturday nights

Overtime Callout Enhancements Expire on September 21, 2022, which applies for members working in select operations positions:

  • The overtime rate of 2x regular rate of pay for all overtime worked before and after a regularly scheduled shift; this is an increase from the 1.5x rate of pay defined in the Collective Agreement, and
  • One hour at 2x regular rate of pay as compensation for travel for all overtime shifts booked regardless of when it is booked; this is normally only applied to those shifts taken as a callout rather than those which are prebooked.
  • For Auxiliaries this will apply to those hours worked in excess of the regular daily hours or in excess of 77 hours bi-weekly.

Psychological Support Program Enhancements Expires on December 31, 2022, for all employees in all departments:

  • All Employees are entitled to six (6) sessions with a mental health professional that are billed confidentially to the Employer from a list of mental health professionals who are participating in the Program.
  • Employees who subsequently exhaust their extended health benefit coverage may request additional sessions, which shall not be unreasonably denied.
  • Requires the Employer to provide all employees an evidence-based trauma-informed psychological safety and resiliency training designed to prevent occupational stress injuries in 2022.

Retention LOU Enhancements Expires on December 31, 2022, for all employees in all departments:

  • If the Employer requests an employee adjust their shift, and as a result the employee is required to use overtime leave, these overtime leave hours will not count towards the limit of this leave specified under Article 8.1(d). The employee will be entitled to overtime for the adjusted shift and/or the shift differential, if applicable.
  • All Regular Full-Time and Temporary Full-Time employees shall be enrolled in the Medical Services Plan, Extended Health Care Plan, Group Life Insurance, Dental Services Plan, on the first of the month following their date of hire.
    • This means that you no longer have to wait 6 months to be enrolled in these plans and all Regular Full-Time and Temporary Full-Time employees who are not enrolled in benefits will be enrolled effective July 1, 2022.
  • Psychological coverage under the Extended Health Care Plan will be increased to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) payable per year, until December 31, 2022.