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WALKING THE LINE: .
Members of CUPE Local 1816, the union representing more than 600 Pacific Blue Cross employees, were locked out on July 7. The two sides have been negotiating a new contract since last September, but haven’t been able to agree on wages and retiree benefits. The union and the benefits provider will be meeting with a mediator next month.
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Lock-out blamed on ‘cultural shift’ Union workers at Pacific Blue Cross say management changed and triggered labour unrest
Tereza Verenca
tverenca@burnabynow.com
The union representing more than 600 Pacific Blue Cross (PBC) workers is heading to mediation on Sept. 8 and 9, two months after members were locked out. CUPE Local 1816 and the Burnabybased benefits provider started contract negotiations last September, and after more than a dozen meetings, they remain at an impasse on wages and retiree benefits.
The non-profit is looking to claw back retiree benefits, according to union president Beth Miller, who has been in the role for 20 years. “We have never ever experienced this kind of labour unrest.We’ve always managed to get a collective agreement. But the CEO has really dug in on this not happening,” she said. “This is just the start.The employer doesn’t want to be obligated to paying this.They take it down now, and down the road, they’re just going to keep
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chipping away, and eventually, we won’t have any retiree benefits.” Miller pointed to what she called a “cultural shift” that happened in 2013, when Pacific Blue Cross appointed Jan Grude as its president and CEO. “It was more or less a family-oriented culture and now it’s more corporate,” she said. “The CEO wants nothing to do with retiree benefits. ... Jan has a record of cutting back and privatizing.” At one point in negotiations, Pacific Blue
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Cross wanted to roll back retiree benefits for both current and retired employees. The latter was eventually taken off the table, Miller said, because “it was illegal for them to do.” “You cannot claw back benefits for people who are already retired.” Heidi Worthington, PBC’s senior vicepresident, told the NOW the cutbacks are needed. (Grude was not available for an interview.) Continued on page 4
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