April 2nd, 2026

April: Fourteenth Update

Hello everyone,

We met with the Employer team this past week, and given the very long pause between bargaining sessions, the Union team was hoping to be able to progress negotiations past outstanding nonmonetary items and into more detailed monetary discussions.

A quick recap on the bargaining process. The timeline for negotiations depends on the number and complexity of proposals, as well as the challenge of juggling the schedules of the 12-15 people directly involved with bargaining.

Negotiations normally move from non-cost items such as updating the agreement to match legislative changes and “cost-neutral” operational issues like work schedules, working conditions, specific workplace problems, etc., to monetary proposals.

Once most of the nonmonetary items are dealt with to the satisfaction of both teams, we move into financial discussions. That means core monetary items are generally bargained in the final stages of negotiations, and they can include wages, benefits, allowances, and leaves.

This session (March 23-27), we focused on narrowing down all the unresolved articles to be able to move to monetary items before the end of the week. Bargaining included a new Employer proposal on the Health Authority, which was quickly followed by a Union counterproposal. While the issue remains unresolved, progress has been made.

Other areas of discussion included hours of work and rest for EMS members, several topics related to Wildland Fire, and continued payroll administration (overpayments) discussions. Herschel Island also remains a topic where the Union and Employer differ on their respective proposals.

In addition to conversations noted above, the Union team raised member concerns regarding LOU W – Centralized Recruitment and Certification Pilot. This centralized recruiting system was originally intended to boost opportunities for administrative workers. Instead, it has made it much harder for members to qualify for promotional opportunities or move more easily between departments and clerical/administrative positions. We expect to continue our discussions with the Employer on this matter at our next session.

Based on our progress to date, the Union team believes we should have been entering the final stages of bargaining this past week. Unfortunately, we have not done so.

It has been yet another frustrating session for the Union team, and despite our efforts to clear the decks for monetary discussions, for the third session in a row, the Employer was again unprepared to bargain monetary items.

Next bargaining dates are set for May 28, June 2,3, 4, June 15, June 19, July 28-31, and August 10 and 11.

In solidarity, your bargaining team,

Amie Angel, Laurel Cole, Rosa Barraco, Tammi Johnson, Ian MacDonald, Erik Miller, Matt Murphy, Ted Klassen & Erna Post

We want to hear from you! Questions? Drop us a line at [email protected]