Faculty represented by the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators (FPSE) at Douglas College have ratified an agreement under the Shared Recovery Mandate.

Approximately 1,000 faculty members working at Douglas College are covered by the collective agreement. The union members, as well as the boards of Douglas College and the Post-Secondary Employers’ Association (PSEA), recently ratified the agreement. The PSEA is the employer bargaining agent for all 19 public colleges, institutes and teaching universities in British Columbia’s post-secondary sector.

Key priorities of the 2022 mandate include:

• protecting the services that people in British Columbia depend on;
• improving health care and preparing for future needs and challenges; and
• supporting a strong economic recovery that includes everyone in B.C.

These negotiations are focused on providing a fair and reasonable offer to public-sector workers that include significant inflation protection while ensuring that government has the resources to continue to invest in building a stronger province for everyone.

The ratified agreement includes:

• three-year term – July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2025;
• general wage increases:
  • Year 1 – a flat increase of $455 to annual salaries which provides a greater percentage increase for lower-paid employees, plus 3.24%;
  • Year 2 – 5.5% plus a potential cost-of-living adjustment to a maximum of 6.75% (maximum 6.75% triggered as of March 21, 2023); and,
  • Year 3 – 2% plus a potential cost-of-living adjustment to a maximum of 3%.
• a negotiable flexibility allocation of up to 0.25% in years 1 and 2 to support mutually beneficial outcomes for both parties; and,
• other achievements in this round of negotiations include increasing professional development budgets for faculty members, providing paid cultural leave for Indigenous employees and introducing a new allowance for green commuting.

Currently, just over 390,000 or 97% of provincial public-sector employees are covered by tentative or ratified agreements reached under B.C.’s Shared Recovery Mandate.

Learn More:

To learn more about public-sector bargaining in B.C., visit: http://gov.bc.ca/psecbargaining