VICTORIA - The Post-Secondary Employers’ Association (PSEA) has reached a tentative template agreement on compensation and other common agreement issues with faculty represented by the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC under the Economic Stability Mandate.

The tentative template agreement covers about 3,200 faculty working at eight colleges throughout the province. Bargaining must now be concluded on negotiable items at the local level for the eight participating colleges: Camosun College, College of New Caledonia, College of the Rockies, Douglas College, North Island College, Northwest Community College, Okanagan College and Selkirk College.

The term of the five-year template agreement is from April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2019. The tentative template provides for a 5.5% wage increase over the five years of the term with potential for additional increases if the B.C. economy exceeds the annual forecasts set by the Economic Forecast Council during the last four years of the agreement.

More information about the agreements will be available when the local portion of negotiations and the individual ratification processes have been completed.

Over 200,000 public-sector employees are now covered by tentative or ratified agreements under the Economic Stability Mandate. Overall, this represents more than two-thirds of all unionized public-sector employees in B.C.

The government’s Economic Stability Mandate provides public-sector employers the ability to negotiate longer-term agreements within a fixed fiscal envelope, and offers employees an opportunity to participate in the province’s economic growth through the Economic Stability Dividend. Settlements are expected to be unique and to reflect priorities negotiated to ensure labour stability and affordable service delivery throughout B.C.

Quick Facts:

• The new 2014 Economic Stability Mandate applies to all public-sector employers whose collective agreements expired on or after Dec. 31, 2013.
• If the province’s real GDP growth exceeds forecasts over the terms of the agreement, the agreement provides for the sharing of some benefits of that growth with the public-sector employees who work on behalf of British Columbians and help make that growth possible.
• Under this proposal, employees would receive a conditional, incremental wage increase equal to half of any percentage-point gain in real GDP growth above the Economic Forecast Council’s forecast published in the February budget.
• For example, if real GDP growth is one percentage point above forecast real GDP growth, then a 0.5% wage increase would result, beyond whatever wage increase had been negotiated in the contract.