FAQs: 2025 - 2029 CBA Tentative Agreement

The general wage increases in each year of the four-year agreement are 3%. This is in addition to the application of over $32 million in low wage redress. Only a portion of those funds have already been allocated to the agreement, and the parties will be jointly determining how and where the remaining monies will be spent. The goal of the parties is to address long standing inequities in wages, premiums, and vacation.

Yes. The pay increases for the first year are retroactive to the first pay period after April 1, 2025, including the first allotment of low wage redress monies. You can see the exact impact on your wage rate with our online calculator.

Each general wage increase take effect the first full pay period after April 1^st of each collective agreement year. This means you will see an increase to your wage rate annually. There is still a considerable amount of funds still to be allocated from remaining low wage redress. The parties will determine how to allocate those funds over the next four to six months and further wage adjustments will be announced when that process is complete.

This is entirely under the control of the employer. The union will advocate for retroactive pay to be issued as quickly as possible, and we have attempted to structure our collective agreement so that those calculations are as straightforward as possible. Note that your employer is unable to send retroactive pay until B.C’s Ministry of Finance has actually sent the funds to cover retroactive payments.

Inflation estimates for 2025 and 2026 remain just above 2.1% which means that we anticipate that the combination of your general wage increases and the application of low wage redress monies will exceed inflation rates for the term of the agreement. This was in no small part to the efforts of our fellow CBA members in the public service. They stood up on behalf of all public service workers in BC in a historic strike that resulted in a doubling of the wage offer from the province.

Yes. These increases represent a significant win, putting us on the path to parity with FBA:

• Weekend Shift Premium: Increase of $0.50 per hour by the end of the agreement for a total of $1.00 per hour.
• Afternoon Shift Premium: increase of $0.50 per hour by the end of the agreement for a total of $0.75 per hour.

In supportive housing, discrepancies in shift premiums are one of the primary monetary gaps that persist between agencies. With thousands more supportive housing, shelter and women’s transition home workers set to benefit from the shift-premium wins in this deal, we’re taking one more step towards closing that gap for good.

Employees who have severed employment prior to the date of ratification of this collective agreement are eligible for retro pay for hours worked since the expiry of the previous collective agreement. The employer will notify all former employees once, in writing, at their last known address, that retro pay is payable upon written application. Former employees must submit their written application to the employer within 60 days of ratification. Retro pay will be calculated using paid hours during the applicable period.