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May 4, 2004
HEU dispute: United labour action forced the government into the best deal that could be achieved at this time
The HEU dispute has changed the labour relations picture in BC significantly.
The fact that workers, HEU members and members of other private and public sector unions walked off the job to protest back-to-work legislation, sent a clear message that the government had gone too far.
BCNU supported HEU for three days by respecting picket lines and with staffing at essential service levels, and was preparing to escalate action at the call of the BC Federation of Labour.
In the face of unified protests, considerable media criticism, and business leaders’ concern, the BC Liberals were forced to negotiate and agree to several things they had been unwilling to concede just a few days earlier.
The $25 million severance fund will provide a number of benefits for HEU members already laid off because of contracting out, including three weeks severance pay for every year of service. The fund can also be used to fund early retirement, relocation allowances and retraining for affected employees.
The fund also applies to the cap of 600 additional workers who can be laid off through contracting out over the next two years - only 400 more before the next election. The vindictive retroactive pay back clause is gone. And no health care workers will be disciplined as a result of the job action
The HEU executive and other union presidents who lead the BC Federation of Labour concluded that the government would not go beyond that and rescind the 15 per cent wage rollback. That’s because the Community Health Care Sector already agreed to rollbacks, as had the HEU in their tentative agreement last year.
The current government is the most anti-union ever elected in the province, a government that has imposed huge cuts in public services to pay for tax cuts for its wealthiest supporters. Sunday’s agreement was the best that could be achieved under the circumstances. The unified protest shows that the Liberals will have to proceed with caution if they consider using anti-labour legislation in the future.
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