BCGEU on the Picket Line
Wednesday, January 30, 2013 @ 2:45 PM
Bundled up and wearing placards, BCGEU members walk the picket line in Prince George photo -250 News
Prince George, B.C. – BCGEU members who work in community living at AimHi are on the picket line today in Prince George.
Chris Mikulasik says the members have gone 10 months without a settlement and 4 years without a wage increase.
He says they are asking “for a fair and reasonable settlement, probably something in line, if not better than what they have been receiving at the other tables”.
The Province has made it clear, there is no new money for contract settlements, and any negotiated wage increases must come from money found within existing budgets. Mikulasik says that will be difficult to do in this sector “They cut out a lot of money, so about $300 million dollars has been lost over the past 8 years out of our sector. So we believe there needs to be new money coming in.” He says there isn’t anything left to cut on the “benefits” end of their contract “We’ve heard from our members they would not agree to any further cuts to benefits.”
Today’s 24 hour job action is one of several taking place in a number of communities across the province. Tomorrow, similar lines will be set up in a variety of communities including Vanderhoof. Then on Friday, Cranbrook will be the target community.
Comments
Time for Bond and Bell, and Miss Christy to do the right thing, and give these people a raise, which I have no doubt they deserve. Wouldnt say the same for all BCGEU employee’s, however this group does a lot of meaningful work for the communitys, and this needs to be recognized.
Hiding behind the statement **you’ll have to find the money in the existing budget** probably is not going to work in this case.
Time for our elected MLA’s to do something besides, making political statements, and press releases, telling us what a great job they are doing.
Lets see if they can actually do something.
Just wondering if someone who knows can explain what it is that Aimhi and these workers do. Thanks
not-so-random, Google Aimhi Prince George which will help explain about the organization. Some of the jobs posted are for residential care workers and life skills workers. These employees work in group homes for adults who have development disabilities. I think the work can be a bit dangerous and very demanding. There is a group home like that around the corner from my house and on occasion, I have seen the workers trying to persuade a resident to go back into the house but the resident was kicking at them and trying to strike them. I was impressed with the patience and compassion of the workers. I agree with Palopu that this workers definitely deserve an increase.
Everything on the planet is constantly going up. Wages should too!
Give an inch, and they take a mile. I’m ashamed of how this government is treating these dedicated workers.
These people look after members of our population who cannot properly take care of themselves. The job they do is not an easy one, many could not handle it, I know I could’nt do it.
Give them a contract with a raise and be glad that someone is there to care for the less fortunate.
metalman.
Dragon: “Everything on the planet is constantly going up. Wages should too!”
Sure, get ready to dig a little deeper to pay for it. We can all afford it, right?
I am willing to bet all these Liberal ads, in print, radio, and on TV could have paid for at least half of what these workers are asking for.
I would love for the Gov’t to stop telling me what a great job they are doing. Just SHOW me and you won’t have to spend millions trying to convince me.
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