The Professional Employees’ Association (PEA) and the University of Victoria have reached a tentative settlement under the Economic Stability Mandate, Minister of Finance Michael de Jong announced today.

This five-year agreement covers approximately 865 PEA academic and administrative staff. This is the first agreement reached at UVic and the second agreement reached under the Economic Stability Mandate in the research university sector.

The government’s Economic Stability Mandate provides public-sector employers with the ability to negotiate longer-term agreements within a fixed fiscal envelope and offers employees an opportunity to participate in the Province’s economic growth. Settlements are expected to be unique between sectors and reflect government’s priorities of having labour stability, affordable service delivery, and a balanced budget.

Currently, there are more than 150,000 public-sector employees covered by tentative or ratified agreements negotiated under the Economic Stability mandate. This represents almost half of all unionized employees in B.C.

Details of the agreement will be available once the ratification process is complete.

Quotes: 

Minister of Finance Michael de Jong -

“With this tentative agreement the parties have reached a settlement that is fair and reasonable for the hardworking men and women at UVic and for the taxpayers of British Columbia.”

Minister of Advanced Education Amrik Virk -

“A lot of hard work went into reaching a tentative agreement that covers around 865 University of Victoria staff. Congratulations to the parties involved in getting to this important milestone in the bargaining process as it benefits staff, the university and all the students."

Quick Facts:

• The new 2014 Economic Stability Mandate applies to all public-sector employers whose collective agreements expired on or after Dec. 31, 2013.
• If the province’s real GDP growth exceeds forecasts over the terms of the agreement, the agreement provides for the sharing of some benefits of that growth with the public-sector employees who work on behalf of British Columbians and help make that growth possible.
• Under this proposal, employees would receive a conditional, incremental wage increase equal to half of any percentage-point gain in real GDP growth above the Economic Forecast Council’s forecast published in the February budget.
• For example, if real GDP growth is one percentage point above forecast real GDP growth, then a 0.5% wage increase would result, beyond whatever wage increase had been negotiated in the contract.

Learn More:

An up-to-date listing of tentative and ratified agreements under the Economic Stability Mandate is available at: http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/psec/

Media Contacts:

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Rodney Porter
Ministry of Advanced Education
250 889-7494

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Jamie Edwardson
Ministry of Finance
250 356-2821