Tag Archives: Labour Relations Board

BC Government and Its Lawyers Head Toward Unionization Showdown

May 16, 2023 Guest Post

By Zak Vescera, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Lawyers working for the B.C. government are threatening to sue it over a new law that would remove their right to choose their own union.

Bill 5 became law on Thursday after months of fighting between the government and the BC Government Lawyers Association, which applied last year to be recognized as an independent union representing about 300 members.

The legislation lifts a ban on unionization for the lawyers, who advise government on new laws and represent it in civil court.

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Politics

BC’s Negotiations with Government Lawyers Collapse

March 9, 2023 Guest Post

By Zak Vescera, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Lawyers working for the B.C. government say they’re willing to strike to win the right to form their own union after negotiations with the province broke down last week.

BC Government Lawyers Association president Gareth Morley said two weeks of private talks couldn’t end the impasse between lawyers, who want to form their own union, and the government, which wants most of the association’s members to join an existing union.

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Business, Communications, Jobs

Taking Unionization Drives Online

January 27, 2023 Guest Post

By Zak Vescera, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A pair of B.C. unions have put cash behind a homegrown tech platform that hopes to make it easier and safer for workers to unionize.

Conley Mosterd, the founder of YouIn?, says the new online platform, based in B.C., allows workers to anonymously ask colleagues if they are interested in organizing, safe from the prying eyes of employers and managers.

If 60 per cent say yes, “the platform sends digital certification cards that can be signed and sent back to the union,” the company said in a news release last week.

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