Bargaining Bulletin #6 – We Won! (Kind of)

As I reported at the CCFA Winter General Meeting, our hearing at the B.C. Labour Board over the competing Bad Faith complaints that arose from our abbreviated negotiations in June 2025 took place at the end of February, with final arguments delivered on March 6. 

At the hearing, we explained to the Vice Chair that there is a fundamental principle at the heart of this dispute that needs to be resolved: Is the Employer permitted to come to the bargaining table without the authority to negotiate money?

Wow. SUCH a good question, Michael. What happened?

Thanks! (If you’re not sure about the ins and outs of bargaining in the mandate system of B.C.’s public sector, check out this primer. If you want a refresher on these bad faith cases, you can also read my updates from August and October.)

We asked the Labour Board to issue a full written decision, complete with a rationale,and the Vice Chair agreed to do so. However, she exercised her authority to issue what’s called a bottom-line decision: a summary of her ruling without the accompanying explanation. We received that ruling last night.

Here’s what it says:

• Both the Union and the Employer were found to have bargained in bad faith
• The Parties are ordered back to the bargaining table immediately
• Fourteen days of bargaining must be scheduled over the next two months
• The Employer must table a counter-offer to our one-year, 3.6% wage increase rollover proposal

So…did we win?

We think so. It’s hard to know for certain until the Board releases the full decision, but based on how the hearing unfolded, we are optimistic that the Vice Chair’s written reasoning will reflect our concerns about the Employer’s conduct at the table. 

For now, we’re encouraged that the Board clearly took those concerns seriously. The Vice Chair has ordered the Employer to respond to our wage proposal and to schedule substantial bargaining time—both of which address problems that led us to file the complaint in the first place. In particular, the Employer’s refusal to book blocks of bargaining dates was a major obstacle last June, and the Board has now imposed a remedy.

While it is true that the Vice Chair also found us in bad faith, the stakes are much lower for us–and the issues raised during the hearing that might support that finding are matters we can easily address. Our best guess is that the Board’s rationale for this finding relates to our refusal to meet with the Employer after we tabled our most recent offer while we waited for a counter-offer that never came (a decision borne of our exasperation with what we considered delay tactics). This outcome was also not entirely unexpected, as you read in my previous updates. 

Even if the final written decision does not provide all the clarity we hoped for, we are delighted with the immediate remedy: get the Employer to the table and require them to respond to our wage proposal.

OK! What happens next?

We will now begin scheduling bargaining dates with the Employer. They are required to table a response to our wage proposal during those negotiations. 

As soon as the schedule is set, our Organizing Coordinator, Janice Niemann, will be in touch to recruit observers for the bargaining table. I promise you, your presence matters. The more the Employer sees that faculty are engaged and united, the stronger our position will be.

It’s been a while since I’ve asked for your help, and I know these are hard times. But in the midst of ruin, Union. Together, we can shift the balance.

In sol,

Michael