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B.C. Liberals ordering health care unions back to work
Bill
imposes 15% wage cut while continuing contracting out
Victoria
- The British Columbia Liberals introduced legislation Wednesday
to impose their will on 43,000 health care workers striking
against massive privatization of their jobs and the continued
firing of workers by the province.
"This legislation ends the labour dispute and requires employees
to return to work immediately," Labour Minister Graham Bruce said
when it was introduced in the legislature.
The bill imposes a 15% rollback in wages and does nothing to
impede the government from continuing the contracting out of
health care jobs to low-wage private firms. It also sets a
two-year contract term. |
A message to BCGEU health care
workers who are on strike
 Back
to work legislation was introduced late Wednesday.The BCGEU is
tracking the legislation closely. It is an unprecedented bill
that cuts wages, imposes a longer work week, and provides zero
protection against job loss from contracting out. The union
will analyze the legal obligations imposed by final version of
the bill. It will then provide direction to members regarding
the next steps and an orderly return to work. In the meantime,
please report to your next scheduled picket shift, and await
further communication from the union. |
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There was no immediate response from union leaders whose members are
affected by the government's decision. But there were suggestions that
the bill might be defied or that other unions might be asked to join a
general strike.
Repeated ILO
violations
Premier Gordon Campbell, who has repeatedly violated International
Labour Organization standards by imposing legislated settlements on
unions, and been sanctioned by the United Nations agency, said the
legislation was introduced because of the impact of the strike on the
province's health care system.
Earlier, the unions sent a blunt message to the so-called "fact
finding" deputy minister appointed by the government Tuesday,
supposedly to seek a resolution in the province-wide strike by health
care workers.
Lee Doney talked with the unions and health care employers but little
came of the intiative. He was told by the unions Wednesday that the
government must halt contracting out while negotiations are under way
if it expects to reach a negotiated settlement. He was also told that
the province must stop laying people off.
Approximately 43,000 workers in 10 unions are affected by the strike,
which began on Sunday. The vast majority are represented by the
Hospital Employees' Union.
Approximately 2,200 are members of the British Columbia Government and
Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE). Another 11,000 members of the
Health Sciences Association of B.C. (HSABC/NUPGE) are honouring picket
lines.
The main issue in the dispute is a plan by the province unionized
jobs, a move that could cut effective wage rates for workers by a
third or more in some cases.
To date, B.C. health employers have eliminated more than 4,000
unionized hospital jobs since he Liberals came to power in 2001.
Web posted by NUPGE:
29 April 2004
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