Aboriginal Services members of the Community Social Services Bargaining Association (CSSBA) have ratified a two-year agreement with the Community Services Employers' Association under the government's 2010 mandate, announced Finance Minister Kevin Falcon.

The agreement covers approximately 160 employees working in five contracted agencies to deliver services to Aboriginal peoples in British Columbia.

The agencies and people working in Aboriginal services provide a wide range of community-based support and care programs to Aboriginal families and children, including guardianship, transition houses, child welfare services, family outreach and preservation.

In October, about 14,000 members of the CSSBA working in the Community Living Services and General Services areas ratified their new collective agreement under net zero.

Government announced its intention to control spending on wages for public sector agreements that expired in 2010 and 2011 through a net-zero cost mandate for collective bargaining. To protect jobs and preserve services essential to British Columbians, government does not have funding for wage increases as collective agreements are renewed.

Quotes:

Community Social Services Employers' Association CEO Gentil Mateus -

"I am pleased that we now have agreements in our three service divisions. The successful negotiation of these agreements could not have taken place without the tireless efforts of both the employer and union bargaining teams."

"This round of collective bargaining is notable because, for the first time, it produced collective agreements without having to resort to third party intervention. This should be a source of great satisfaction and hopefully set a trend for future bargaining in our sector."

Quick Facts:

B.C.'s public sector has approximately 307,000 unionized workers, who provide our province with vital services.

To date, about two-thirds of those employees have successfully re-negotiated agreements under the Province's net-zero mandate.

Learn More:

Updated bargaining information is available at:

http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/psec/

Contact:

Jamie Edwardson
Communications Director
Ministry of Finance
250 356-2821