Pay Equity Campaign Brings Results

The Community Social Services Bargaining Association (CSSBA) has been pressuring government to address pay inequity in the supportive housing sector – and today we’re pleased to announce a series of significant pay increases for certain Grid 11 supportive housing workers in the Community Social Services (CSS) agreement!

Over the last year, the CSSBA has led a campaign for pay equity, flooding the finance minister with emails, meeting with MLAs, sending open letters, holding rallies, and more. Thanks to those efforts and the hard work of your CSS negotiating team, our union was able to win these increases, which will benefit supportive housing workers at 50 agencies covered by the CSS agreement. 

While these increases are significant, they don’t yet achieve full pay equity. There are still some wage gaps and shift premium differences compared to the Community Health (CBA) agreement, so our fight is not over.

It’s vital that all supportive housing workers, regardless of whether they’re in the CSS agreement or the CBA agreement, are compensated fairly. We have made it clear to government and their representatives that – while it is important for workers to receive these increases – we will continue to fight until we reach full pay equity.

Details on pay increases

Starting on the first pay period after September 1, 2024, the wage increases below will be applied to Grid 11 workers in the following classifications: Adult, Youth and/or Child Worker, Residential Child and Youth Worker, Special Services Worker, Victim Service Worker and several unique positions (comparable to Community Health Advocate, Detox Worker 2, Shelter Support Worker, or Support Worker 2). These increases apply only at agencies that provide supportive housing programs fully funded by BC Housing.

The CSSBA has been fighting for equity with the Community Health agreement for years and recognizes that there are still pay gaps around shift premiums and in the lower steps.  Your union will continue to fight for pay equity at all grid levels and this will continue to be a priority in future rounds of bargaining.

Step 1 (0-2000 hours, about one year of full-time work)
Original hourly rate: $27.54
New hourly rate: $30.18
Increase of $2.64/hour or 9.5%

Step 2 (2001-4000 hours, about two years of full-time work)
Original hourly rate: $28.49
New hourly rate: $30.18
Increase of $1.69/hour or 5.9%

Step 3 (4001-6000 hours, about three years of full-time work)
Original hourly rate: $30.03
New hourly rate: $31.82
Increase of $1.79/hour or 5.9%

Step 4 (6001 hours onwards)
Original hourly rate: $31.61
New hourly rate: $33.49
Increase of $1.88/hour or 5.9%

These increases are defined in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), that you can read here. When the current CSS agreement expires in 2025, these rates will be the starting point for negotiations for supportive housing workers.

If you'd like to learn more about the bargaining process, take a look at HSA's explainer video and read about HSA's upcoming CSS bargaining proposal conference.

What’s next?

The CSSBA will continue to push the provincial government to honour their commitment to pay equity. In the coming weeks and months, we will continue to apply pressure to make sure they know that there is still work to be done. 

Once again, we will draw on our collective power to make change, so be on the lookout for opportunities to participate.