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SPECTRUM 3231
Kingsway - Vancouver, B.C. V5R 5K3 Wage Equity Update #19 March 28, 2007 To: All
Spectrum Employees From: Susan
Kurliak, Director, Communications and Quality Assurance On February 20th, 2007, the Minister of
Finance announced that the 2007-08 provincial budget
would include funding increases for non-union social service agencies, to
address cost pressures facing these agencies.
The money was not designated specifically for wages, but rather as an
overall increase to service contracts.
Agencies will have the freedom to apply this funding in whatever way
they choose. Spectrum Society is committed to fair
wages for our employees. We have
therefore decided to apply all of this new funding to wage increases. We appreciate the support and patience our staff have shown over the past year as we have worked to
ensure that their wages remained competitive with their unionized
counterparts in other agencies. I want to formally acknowledge the efforts
of our Executive Director, Ernie Baatz, in leading us to this successful
outcome. Quite simply, this deal would
not have happened without him. Last
spring, when the provincial government announced increases for unionized
agencies and nothing for non-union agencies, Ernie launched an ambitious
advocacy campaign to pressure the government into recognizing ALL community
social service workers. Ernie led a
coalition of 25 non-union agencies from across B.C. that met with every MLA
in the province and rallied grassroots support from thousands of social
service workers, families and concerned citizens. Spectrum employees supported this effort by
sending letters and emails to government officials. The coalition spent many long hours in
strategy meetings, sought legal advice, consulted with public relations
specialists, issued press releases to the media, and sent numerous written
briefs to the Minister of Finance, Minister of Children and Family
Development, and CEO of Community Living B.C.
As the leader of this coalition, Ernie organized countless meetings
and maintained a website with up-to-the-minute information on the coalition’s
progress. He worked tirelessly to keep
up the pressure, and in the end his efforts paid off for non-union workers
across the province. Our funders have stated that without this pressure, the province
would not have set money aside for this funding increase. How much of an increase will Spectrum be
getting? A three-year funding plan has been
approved, with 3.2% being added to the total service contract amount on April
1, 2007, approximately 1.6% more on April 1, 2008 and April 1, 2009. Approximately 80% of Spectrum’s funding
goes toward wages. As we will be
applying all of the new funding to wages, this works out to about a 4% wage
increase this year, and 2% in each of the next two years (4% X 80% of the
total service contract = 3.2% of the full service contract amount). How will the wage increases be determined? Wage
increases could be applied in a variety of ways. This will be determined by Spectrum’s
Policy Committee on April 18, 2007.
Some of the ideas already suggested at the last Policy Committee
meeting in January included: ·
Across
the board increases to each pay rate ·
Higher
starting wage – less of an increase at the top end ·
Lower
starting wage – bigger increase to employees with 4,500 hours or more ·
Focus
some of the increase specifically to the asleep overnight rate ·
Compact
the wage scale – two increments instead of three, at 1,500 hours and 3,000
hours ·
Extend
the wage scale – four increments instead of three, at 1,500 hours, 3,000
hours, 4,500 hours and 6,000 hours ·
Add
more to benefits / less to wages – increase Spectrum’s contribution to RRSP
to a maximum 4% matching contribution instead of the current 3% matching
amount Will I have any input? A web survey is available for Spectrum employees to give
input on which options they prefer. We
encourage you to complete this survey before April 18. The survey is available on the Policy
Committee website, or
Click
Here for a direct link. Will there be any retroactive increase for
2006-07? We are still waiting for confirmation
of the amount we will be receiving as a lump sum increase on the current year
(2006-07) operating contracts. This funding increase will be shared
with staff as a lump sum payment once we receive it, some time in the next
three months. If you have questions or
concerns, please speak to your Policy Committee representative. Thank you all for your support, and congratulations
to everyone on our successful advocacy efforts!
Susan Kurliak
Director,
Communications and Quality Assurance
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