The erosion of labor standards and the inaction of the BC NDP has put workers in a precarious position.
The COVID-19 health emergency has made the need for paid sick days and adequate job protection more obvious than ever before.
We are proud to collaborate with the Retail Action Network in a campaign for paid sick days for all.
On the heels of a COVID-19 outbreak at United Poultry in Vancouver, Coalition Co-Chair David Fairey has published an op-ed in today’s Vancouver Sun. He calls on the BC government to update the Employment Standards Act and implement paid sick leave for all workers in BC. Read the op-ed here.
Domestic and sexual violence sadly affects many people in B.C., including workers. Global News notes that women make up 87% of sexual violence victims and 2/3 of victims of domestic violence. Indigenous women and members of the LGBTQ2 community are at a particular risk. Not surprisingly, over 80% of workers who have experienced domestic violence express that it interferes with their work performance.
Recently, the B.C. government invited submissions on whether the Employment Standards Act should require employers to continue to pay their employee’s regular wage for any of the time off for domestic or sexual violence.
At our general meeting on September 16th, the BC Employment Standards Coalition developed a collective response that we sent to Minister of Labour Harry Bains & Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity Mitzi Dean. In short, we argue that the Employment Standards Act should most certainly contain a provision for paid domestic or sexual violence leave as part of the much-needed modernization of the Act. You can read our full response here.
In addition, please read the BC Government and Service Employees’ Union response here.
For almost two decades, BC’s Employment Standards Branch has failed to adequately enforce the Employment Standards Act and the Employment Standards Regulation. This week, the BC Employment Standards Coalition called on the BC Auditor General, Carol Bellringer, to conduct an investigation.
In addition, this week the BC Employment Standards Coalition submitted our response to the Minister of Labour’s February 28th Consultation Paper, which also included our separate critique of the BC Law Institute’s December report on the Employment Standards Act.
Individuals can submit their views on modernizing the BC Employment Standards via email (ESAReview@gov.bc.ca)until March 31st. The BCFED has provided a template letter at this link: https://www.workersdeservebetter.ca/employment_standards
We’ve added a Resources for Workers page, which currently includes two organizations that do great work on behalf of workers but are separate from the BC Employment Standards Coalition:
Please feel free to send us links to other resources you think we should include.
