A tentative agreement under the Shared Recovery Mandate has been reached between the Public Service Agency and the BC General Employees’ Union.

The tentative agreement covers approximately 30,000 people working in the B.C. Public Service in occupations that provide core government services, such as social services, environmental management and public safety, including sheriffs and correctional officers. Also covered by the agreement are unionized members of the Liquor Distribution Branch, as well some employees at the BC Pension Corporation, Destination BC and the Royal BC Museum.

Negotiations under the Shared Recovery Mandate support government’s key priorities to improve public services and the health-care system, while supporting the Province’s continued economic recovery.

Agreement details will be available in the coming weeks when the ratification process for the union members and the employers is complete.

More than 500,000 people work throughout the provincial public sector in the core public service, at Crown corporations, in health and community social services, in kindergarten-to-Grade 12 public education, and at post-secondary institutions and research universities.

Of those people, approximately 393,000 are unionized employees paid under collective agreements or professionals paid through negotiated compensation agreements.