Guards reject wage increase
Trevor Nichols - Oct 26, 2017 - Biz Releases

Image: Trevor Nichols

Updated (Oct. 27): Commissionaires BC says the union representing its Kelowna jail guards is “intentionally” disregarding the company’s financial situation, after it rejected Commissionaires’ latest wage increase.

The 17 guards, represented by CUPE Local 338, renewed their threat to strike earlier this month, after negotiations between Commissionaires and the union broke down.

The sticking point is the guards’ wages, which the union claims are far lower for Kelowna guards than for guards in many neighbouring communities.

In a recent email statement, Commissionaires spokesperson Julie Powers said her company recently made CUPE an offer that included “significant” wage increases for all employees.

Based on its current contract with the City of Kelowna, that offer would have forced Commissionaires to operate at a financial loss.

Powers said Commissionaires made that fact “clear” to the union during the negotiation process, but that the union “did not hesitate” to reject the offer.

“Our offer and our willingness to operate at a temporary loss is exceptionally reasonable and fair,” Powers said.

Now, she said, CUPE “continues to pursue wage demands that intentionally disregard the financial realities of our status as a contractor, rather than a civic employer.”

Commissioners made the offer during a BC Labour Relations Board hearing, at the same time it had asked the board to classify the Kelowna jail guards as an essential service.

That classification would limit the guards’ ability to go on strike, and until the board makes a decision on that request the union’s right to strike remains suspended.

Lee Mossman, the president of CUPE Local 338, told Okanagan Edge the union was at the hearing “strictly for a ruling on the essential services,” and that any discussion of wages was “strictly informal,” because the hearing wasn’t being held for bargaining purposes.

Mossman says the only increase Commissionaires has officially proposed during bargaining has been for 16 cents an hour, in the second year of the collective agreement dependent upon the corporation retaining the next contract with the city.

“I would hardly call that significant,” he says.

Before Kelowna contracted a private company to provide its jail guards, the city hired CUPE employees directly for the positions.

The not-for-profit Commissionaires has been winning those contracts for more than 15 years, but before the company took over, city jail guards made $19.10 an hour. Adjusting for inflation, those guards would be making about $26 an hour today.

Mossman says the Kelowna jail guards employed by Commissionaires currently make about $16 an hour.

In her statement, Powers said Commissionaires goal has always been to reach a collective agreement that is “fair and reflective of the commercial realities and our industry.”

The company has now applied for first collective agreement mediation, which will bring in a mediator to help the two sides reach an agreement. While the mediator’s suggestions aren’t binding, he or she does have the power to appoint an arbitrator whose decision would be.


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