April 3, 2020

Via email: FIN.Minister@gov.bc.ca

The Honourable Carole James, MLA

Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier
Room 153
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4

Dear Minister

I am writing you to ask for immediate action from the Public Service Agency (PSA) and Public Sector
Employers’ Council Secretariat (PSEC) to support the tens of thousands of BCGEU members deemed
“essential” during the COVID-19 pandemic—workers who continue to deliver vital services and supports
to British Columbians as our province navigates an unprecedented crisis.

My request is especially urgent in light of the recent decision by the Health Employers Association of B.C.
(HEABC) to pay a “working short” premium to all nurses covered under their provincial master agreement
for at least the month of April. As you know, the premium was negotiated in the last round of provincial
bargaining to apply to nursing units where short staffing had been identified by managers and nurses.
Instead of completing the work necessary to apply the premium as negotiated, the HEABC has instead
agreed to pay the premium to all nurses.

The idea of one group of frontline workers receiving a wage premium in a time of crisis while other
workers—workers who also deliver essential services and face extraordinary expenses and risks related
to the pandemic—are excluded is unacceptable. All working people deserve fair compensation and
support and the consequences of singling out some workers for preferential treatment and additional
support are dire. News of the nurses’ premium has been a blow to the morale of BCGEU members doing
essential frontline work during the pandemic and created division between workers at a moment when
unity is critically important. I can assure you it has been especially devastating for the thousands of BCGEU
members who work in the same high-risk healthcare settings as the nursing staff who will benefit from
this wage boost.

I understand that employers in all sectors have been subject to extreme uncertainty and pressure in the
last number of weeks, but now that we are all facing the reality of several more weeks, possibly months,
of life in a pandemic, it is time for all employers to make their workers a priority. I believe the provincial
government has an opportunity to set the standard in this regard.
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To be clear, I am not asking for “hazard pay”, what I am asking for is tangible recognition by the PSA and
PSEC that workers deemed “essential” during a pandemic are facing extraordinary expenses as well as
risks to their physical and mental health that are worthy of extraordinary supports from their employer.
To that end, on behalf of the BCGEU’s tens of thousands of essential workers in direct government and
the broader public service, I respectfully request the following steps be taken immediately:
• 100% paid sick time or STIIP pay for all workers.
• 100% pay for workers in self-isolation pursuant to the recommendations of the Provincial Health
Officer or quarantined on the advice of a medical practitioner, including 8-1-1.
• An increase in paid sick days for all workers to ensure they would be fully covered in the event of
COVID-19 infection or self-isolation or quarantine as detailed above.
• Continuing access to extended medical benefits regardless of age.
• The ability of all workers to access paid special leave, if they do not already have it, to fully cover
any period of infection, self-isolation or quarantine.
• The ability for all workers subject to lay-off due to COVID-19 to buy back pension time split with
the employer.
• Priority access to COVID-19 testing for frontline workers.
• Access to job-appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for frontline workers.

In closing, the BCGEU applauds the measured, evidence-based public health approach your government
has taken to prepare for, contain, and mitigate the spread of the virus in our province. And we fully
support the core message that our collective success in this pandemic depends on each of us doing what
needs to be done for the greater good of all of us. In short, the BCGEU is 100% all in. Your government is
asking thousands of our members to step up for their province, I am asking you to step up for them in
return.

I am available to discuss implementation of these measures at your convenience.

Sincerely

Stephanie Smith
President

SS/DM/dmc