VANCOUVER—Last ditch community social services bargaining talks resumed August 9, and lasted through the week. Talks are set to continue on Monday.
Your bargaining committee has been clear that any agreement must focus on your
key demands – namely job security, fair work practices, and dealing with the
continuing bleeding of jobs and decimation of services in the sector.
On May 30, you gave your bargaining committee an 82-per-cent strike mandate,
which expires on August 30. Any agreement must be reached before that date.
If the employer fails to meet our key demands, we will not hesitate to issue
72-hour job action notices. The strike committee of the bargaining association
is responsible for issuing such strike notices.
During a strike, there is a lot of information circulating. To keep up to date,
Community Social Service workers are encouraged to:
- Stay in touch with your union local and strike coordinator;
- Ensure your contact details with your union are up-to-date – especially your email and phone numbers;
- Check your union website regularly, and sign-up for relevant email alerts;
- Refer to the cssfairdeal.ca website;
- Join relevant Facebook groups, such as “BC’s Community Social Service Workers”. They are a useful way of getting timely updates on strike developments, and give workers the opportunity to ask questions and share opinions.
