Perfect storm of public sector contract talks tests Libs

VICTORIA - Carole Taylor better get going fast on her plan to find better ways of bargaining public sector contracts.
By next June - seven months from now - almost everyone in the provincial public sector will be negotiating contracts, from teachers to doctors to clerks at ICBC.
That’s some 235,000 people, all expecting gains and catch-up increases to make up for the wage freeze in their last contracts.
And, of course, looking hungrily at the government’s billion-dollar surpluses.
The two-year wage freeze meant that almost all those people lost about four per cent in real wages. Just making that up would add about $600 million to the cost of government.
Negotiations are always challenging. These will be much more difficult.
For starters, many of the unions are unhappy about rough treatment during the Liberals’ first term. The broken promise to respect contracts, the failure to honour arbitration awards and the willingness to fire thousands of people so they could be replaced by cheaper employees all created illwill.
The teachers’ strike also heartened public sector unions. The unions managed an effective series of protests, and the teachers held the public’s support even after the strike was declared illegal.
Taylor, as finance minister, is responsible for the government’s position. She’s working on a bargaining mandate for negotiators now, setting out the limits for spending increases.
But Taylor says she also wants a new look at the whole negotiating process.
“What I’m thinking about is how we can do things differently - how can we move it off just straight dollars,” she said this week. “Are there other things that are important to peoples’ lives that they would be interested in, have we been imaginative about this, have we asked unions about what would be top of mind for them?”
Maybe there should be incentives for early settlement, or for longer term contracts, she said.
It’s the right approach. Setting a mandate and expecting it to apply across the board - even with some substantial tinkering - doesn’t allow for the best solutions.
But don’t expect too much change, too quickly.
The BCGEU contracts expire at the end of March, and the union is working on its position now. There’s not much time to establish this new relationship.
And there’s not much trust, and a lot of pent-up demand.
BCGEU head George Heyman said the union’s starting point is that members should get back what they lost due to the wage freeze or pay cuts, plus an increase. That means a catch-up of 4.1 per cent across the board, and up to 15 per cent for some employees who took cuts to keep their jobs. Employees are also worried about privatization and job security.
Factor in the reactionary nature of most unions, and and the chances of change shrink. The government may be willing to come up with larger increases for skilled workers in high demand; the union will almost certainly argue for an across-the-board increase.
Taylor and the government should learn from the teachers’ dispute.
The union - despite some extreme positions, chronic rigidity, an illegal strike and closed schools - had the public’s support. The government was the bad guy for most British Columbians.
Partly, that reflects fondness for individual teachers. But it also suggests a public view that the government tends to bully its unions, and treat employees unfairly.
Public sector negotiations can be much affected by that kind of public opinion. Governments can ultimately impose any contract terms they wish, as the Liberals have shown. What restrains them, ideally on top of respect for employees and understanding of the benefits of a positive workplace, is public opinion. Governments do not want to look like bullies, or spendthrifts.
There is always a chance for a positive, relatively painless outcome to negotiations, and Taylor’s interestin a new approach is encouraging.
But this huge set of negotiations faces big challenges, and missteps by either side could lead to serious damage.
Footnote: Doctors may provide the government with its first test. The BCMA is in talks now on an increase to doctors’ fee schedule. The medical association has an extra weapon - the ability to force the dispute to early arbitration. The government’s response will be seen as a signal of its approach to this round of bargaining.