-Circulated on behalf of BC Building Trades-

Together workers fought to secure Community Benefit and Project Labour Agreements on major public projects like the stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge (Pattullo Bridge replacement), the Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project and the Surrey-Langley Skytrain.

These agreements ensure British Columbians build BC’s public infrastructure—while expanding apprenticeships, ensuring safe working conditions and paying good, family-sustaining wages.

Yet without warning or consultation with the workers making their living on these projects, the BC Conservatives introduced a law to ban these agreements. Their bill would tie the government’s hands and put local jobs with family-sustaining wages at risk.

Show your support for skilled trades workers and good-paying local jobs by signing the BC Building Trades’ petition and tell the BC Conservatives to withdraw their bill:

https://protectbcjobs.ca/#petition

The BC Conservatives want to take us back to a time when the Canada Line project was built using temporary foreign labour, paying some workers less than $4 an hour.

BC Building Trades unions are demanding that BC Conservatives stop their attack on good-paying, local trades jobs and withdraw their legislation to ban Community Benefits and Project Labour Agreements.

Sign the petition if you agree: https://protectbcjobs.ca/#petition

Once you’ve signed the petition, please share it to your social media and ask your friends and family to sign too.

March 20, 202

Community Bargaining Association (CBA) members have voted by more than 91% to

ratify a new collective agreement with the Health Employers Association of British

Columbia (HEABC).

This is a strong result and a major win for community health workers across B.C.

The four-year, inflation-fighting agreement delivers substantial gains in the areas

members identified as priorities, including annual wage increases of 3% per year and

low wage redress funding that will mean most members will earn about 13%

more by the end of the agreement than they do today.

The agreement is retroactive to April 1, 2025, and is in effect until March 31, 2029.

Now that members have ratified the agreement, the next step is ratification

by HEABC employers, which is expected to take place at the beginning of April. After

that, the constituent unions of the CBA will begin work to implementation.

Please note the employer controls the timing of retroactive pay, but our union

will advocate for it to be paid out as quickly as possible.

This agreement was won through solidarity. It was made possible by the strength

members showed throughout bargaining, by a powerful strike vote, and by the

determination of community health workers to stand together and fight for

improvements. Because members stayed united and engaged, this round of

bargaining delivered real progress on the priorities that mattered most.

In solidarity,

Your CUPE representatives to the CBA bargaining committee

COPE491

The Community Social Services Bargaining Association (CSSBA) has developed a course  for  members in the Community and Social Services Sector on the subject of Building Respectful Relationships.

This course can be accessed on the CSSBA website here: http://cssba.ca

To take the course you will have to Register using CUPE’s access code. Click the ‘Register’ button and put in the relevant information. The Access Code is:

CUPE-S33K-4W1C-UJ61-1SJD-UV46

Hi there,

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Mar 18, 2026 06:30 PM Vancouver

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Nbm-BQdIQaaD0b38zzQNtg

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

March 9, 2026

Bargaining update: pushing back on concessions

Since our last update, your bargaining committee met with the Community Social
Services Employers’ Association (CSSEA) for six more days of negotiations in February.
By Feb. 18, we had agreed to and signed off on eight more non-monetary proposals.
While we’ve been making progress, we are still facing employer demands for
concessions in high-stakes areas. Important monetary items remain
unresolved; we’ll be using all the leverage we have advocating for the solutions and
priorities you empowered your committee to advance. We remain committed to
pushing for a deal that reflects the progress you said you need this round.
Our next bargaining dates are March 23 to 27. Until then, your bargaining committee
will be meeting and refining our goals so that we are prepared to return to the table.
Conversations specific to Indigenous Services (IS) negotiations are on pause until we
see more progress at the main table with General Services and Community Living. Our
IS goals remain: a fully funded collective agreement that
provides equitable compensation for Indigenous workers who do the same or similar
work in direct government services. Priorities include language that truly acknowledges
and respects Indigenous peoples lived experience. To effectively advance more IS
proposals, we first need to get closer to agreement with the employers on substantive
monetary issues at the main table.
At this point, your committee and CSSEA are looking into bargaining dates for April,
in case we need them. Stay tuned for more updates as we pursue a good deal that
meets your needs.

In Solidarity,
Your CUPE representatives to the Community Social Services bargaining committee

• February 12th, West Coast Leaf: Your Rights at Work.
• February 26th, Red Fox Living Society Photography and Media Skills

• February 14th, Saturday, is the annual women’s memorial march led by Indigenous women to honour the MMIWG2S+. Morning for families and those directly impact only with the march starting at 12pm, Main and Hastings. Please see attached poster for all details.
• AWMM organizing committee is looking for translators, have Spanish confirmed, starting at 11 am in media tent until the march begins, looking for volunteer media translators in French Cantonese and/or Mandarin, Hindi and/or Punjabi, and Tagalog. It does not have to be professional translation. Please reach out to Daniyah@abfrontdoor.org by Friday February 6th if you are able to support. 

• VAFCS updated that half of their shelter at 1660 E Hastings has changed to a 24/7 shelter, so folks are able to stay for longer periods. With this change, VAFCS invites organizations to come into present, share information and resources, and offer folks things to do across the community. If you are interested in supporting this invitation please reach out to Brian Francis: shelter@vafcs.org
• VAFCS new Power Within certificate program begins January 31^st continuing on the last Saturday of each month. Power Within: Cultivating Safe Spaces, Leadership, & Responding to Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a one-day, Indigenous-led workshop designed to support Indigenous youth in understanding, preventing, and responding to GBV i their communities. Indigenous youth ages 14-29 who participate receive a $100 honorarium. Please visit this link for all of the details.

“THEIR SPIRITS LIVE WITHIN US”

2026WomensMemorialMarchPoster

35^TH ANNUAL WOMEN’S MEMORIAL MARCH

LED BY INDIGENOUS WOMEN TO HONOUR THE MMIWG2S+

 Facebook: https://bit.ly/40FITsK

The Memorial March is an opportunity to come together to grieve the loss of our beloved sisters and relatives in the Downtown Eastside. We dedicate ourselves to justice because Indigenous women, girls, two spirit & trans people still face physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual violence on a daily basis. All welcome.

This event takes place on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.

Artwork courtesy of Christiane Bordier.

Shorter days and colder temperatures may impact your mental health. When employees lack psychological support in their workplace, it can contribute to increased absenteeism, conflict, turnover, loss of productivity and increased costs for the organization.

While a workplace can’t control the season, a psychologically healthy and safe workplace can help lessen the impacts of workplace stressors during challenging periods. Build a strong foundation by providing your workers with training and information.