Canadian Labour Reporter

lAbour brieFs 2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014 Tentative contract reached with B.C. health care workers vanCOUvEr — The Fa- cilities Bargaining Association (FBA) has reached a tentative settlement with B.C.'s health employers. The multi-union association — representing 47,000 health care workers in hospitals, resi- dential care facilities, emergency health services and logistics and supply operations across the province — reached the five-year agreement with the assistance of a mediator. The contract includes 5.5 per cent in general wage increases over the life of the agreement in addition to limiting contracting out, expanding employment op- tions and protecting employee benefits. The agreement also includes provisions that address outstand- ing issues around paramedics' pay scales. The FBA bargaining commit- tee unanimously recommended the agreement to its constituent unions and the provincial execu- tive of the Hospital Employees' Union (HEU) voted on May 15 to recommend ratification to its members. HEU represents a majority of the workers covered by the col- lective agreement. Bonnie Pearson — secre- tary-business manager for the HEU and chief spokesperson for the FBA — said the 96 per cent strike mandate delivered by union members one month after the association's contract expired on March 31 played a major part in securing the tenta- tive deal. "Health care workers sig- nalled clearly that they were determined to protect jobs and improve working and caring conditions," Pearson said. "This agreement meets those condi- tions and provides a measure of stability and certainty in a health care system that is under consid- erable stress." Ottawa food services staff join UFCW OTTaWa — Food service staff- ers in Ottawa were officially in- ducted into the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union following a certification vote earlier this year. Workers at Healthcare Food Services — who prepare meals for health-care facilities in the capital — joined UFCW's local chapter 175 in an effort to create a fair and respectful work environment, ac- cording to the union. On the bargaining table for ne- gotiators will be improvements to wages, mending scheduling prob- lems, ending favouritism and se- niority recognition. President of UFCW Canada, Local 175 Shawn Haggerty con- gratulated the employees. "We are very proud of the workers for uniting together to build good jobs and establish better working conditions at Healthcare Food Services, and we look forward to negotiating a fair and competitive first con- tract." Job availability dropped in February: statsCan OTTaWa — Earlier this year, the number of job vacancies in the country dropped, according to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada. On May 20, the three-month average — ending in February — for job vacancies was released, indicating a decline from the pre- vious year. In February, there were 194,000 job vacancies among Ca- nadian businesses, which equates to a decline of 21,000 openings compared with February of 2013. There were seven unemployed people for every job vacancy, up from 6.3 the previous year. The increase in the unemployment- to-job-vacancy ratio was mostly the result of the decline in job va- cancies, Statistics Canada noted. The national job vacancy rate for that time period was 1.3 per cent, down from 1.5 per cent the year before. On May 15, thousands of fast food workers seeking higher wages planned 1-day strikes and demonstrations across the United States. Above, a worker holds up a sign outside of a McDonald's restaurant in New York. FOrMErlY Clv rEPOrTs serving labour relations professionals since 1956 www.labour-reporter.com Published weekly by omson reuters Canada ltd. subscription rate: $595 per year Customer service Tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5106 Email: carswell.customerrelations@ thomsonreuters.com Website: www.carswell.com director, Carswell Media Karen Lorimer Publisher John Hobel Managing Editor Todd Humber news Editor Sabrina Nanji | (416) 649-9348 sabrina.nanji@thomsonreuters.com news Editor Liz Foster | (416) 298-5129 liz.foster@thomsonreuters.com Marketing Co-ordinator Travis Chan | (416) 609-5872 travis.chan@thomsonreuters.com © 2014 Carswell, a division of omson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. 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