Dash for Cash

This page has had some difficulty lately in being able to contact human resources personnel from major public sector employers for routine business. It appears that most, if not all, are busy with bargaining, as a result of the government's mandate to establish labour peace during the run-up to the 2010 Olympics.

Several contracts with BCGSEU, CUPE, HEU, BCNU, and others will expire on March 31. To accelerate the bargaining process, Employers Associations have been mandated to offer substantial signing bonus to unions in exchange for long-term (i.e. five year) agreements by the end of the month. The response from public sector unions has been mixed: some are putting their own feet on the bargaining gas pedal, while some are applying the brakes with a strike vote.

It's a widely accepted rule for working in the public sector that one takes in a little less money in exchange for a little more job security. Perhaps if Gordon Campbell hadn't tampered with this unwritten social contract through the P3 debacles, beating workers into submission with back-to-work legislation, and arbitrary, mean-spirited attacks like Bill 29, one might actually believe that the large orange stick he's wielding is really a carrot. Really, is there any point to signing a long-term agreement with a government employer when the government has a history of ripping up agreements it no longer finds convenient?

Those Unions who are speeding up to cash in before March 31 are advised by this page to slow down and take a good look at what's happening. A signing bonus is one thing, still having members around to get a signing bonus is another.