With collective bargaining underway on 182 labour agreements in B.C.'s public sector, the province has hired George Heyman, the former head of the B.C. General Employees Union (BCGEU) and the former environment and climate change minister, to advise the government on negotiating the core public service agreement.
"The relationship between public sector workers and government can be challenging at times," Premier David Eby said in a Zoom call from South Korea on Monday, June 9. "And so having somebody who's able to translate for both sides can help avoid disruption in services and come to a good result."
There are 452,000 unionized public sector employees in B.C. across the core public service, Crown corporations, public schools, health authorities and universities.
Most of these unions are working under expiring agreements this year, with the Public Service Agency's collective agreement with the BCGEU up for renegotiation first. This covers 34,000 employees ranging from social services to wildland firefighters to correctional officers to BC Liquor Store employees.
The first bargaining proposals were exchanged on Jan. 22, and the previous three-year agreement expired on March 31. Because this is the first of several deals being renegotiated, the terms will set the baseline for the rest of the agreements.
Talks are on a break, but are scheduled to resume on June 17 and 18 in Vancouver, then again on June 23 to 27 in Victoria. So far, bargaining has focused mainly on non-monetary details, but the first monetary packages are likely to be exchanged in the upcoming talks, according to the union.
Total unionized payroll for the B.C. government is approximately $41.9 billion. Every one-per-cent raise given means an extra $419 million in public payroll.
Heyman is hired on with a contract that ends on July 31. He is set to make a maximum of $58,000.
The hiring of consultants to advise premiers on labour negotiations such as this is not unprecedented. Paul Faoro, the former president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees - B.C., advised John Horgan and Lee Doney, the former Western Forest Products board chair and a former deputy minister, advised Christy Clark.
Finance Minister Brenda Bailey hired Heyman with Eby's blessing.
"She certainly has my full support in it," Eby said.