Arbitrator rules in favour of BCGEU on wage grid issue

'A significant victory for members.' - James Cavalluzzo

Vancouver (26 April 2007) - The British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) has won an important ruling on a grievance affecting members who work in the community social services sector.

The case resolves a serious dispute affecting the ability of employees to advance along the wage grid, specifically how many hours an employee must work at each pay step in a new classification before moving on to the next one.

A grievance was filed under article 26.5 and Appendix A of the previous collective agreements. Arbitrator Joan Gordon concluded that the union's interpretation is correct.

Whenever an employee changes classification in accordance with Article 24, the employee is placed on the wage grid in a specific pay step in accordance with the increment system language under Appendix A. The employee then needs to work 2,000 hours before moving to the next pay step and qualifying for a wage increase.

The arbitrator rejected the employer's argument that the employee was required to work the total of all hours of all previous steps before progressing to the next step and becoming eligible for an increase.

"The decision by the arbitrator is a significant victory for members who were being impacted by the employer's decisions on the wage levels," says James Cavalluzzo, chair of the union's community social services component. NUPGE