Unionized workers voted in favour of job action in January amid an impasse in negotiations
Law Society of British Columbia lawyers, paralegals, and officers agreed to a new collective agreement on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the employees overwhelmingly voted in favour of job action over wages and benefits for new members.
More than 85 percent of unionized employees voted in favour of the new agreement, Brett Harper, senior labour relations officer and lead negotiator for the Professional Employees Association, told Canadian Lawyer on Wednesday.
According to the LSBC, benchers ratified the agreement at a February 7 meeting.
The new collective agreement includes wage increases and improved RRSP contribution rates for employees. Harper confirmed that the agreement also guarantees that paralegals and officers can access the same benefits as lawyers.
In January, Harper said bargaining unit members took issue with the LSBC’s “two-tiered” arrangement that gave lawyers better access to retirement, benefits, and vacation entitlements than paralegals or officers.
Paralegals and officers joined the bargaining unit last year after the provincial government passed the Legal Professions Act into law. The controversial legislation will replace the LSBC with a single regulatory body overseeing lawyers, paralegals, and notaries and is currently facing a legal challenge by the LSBC.
The collective agreement spans three years.
“Obviously, the outcome of the amalgamation of the law society is on the horizon and will have some impact that we’ll have to work with [along with] our members and the new entity that emerges,” Harper says.
In a statement Wednesday, the LSBC said, “The law society believes the agreement reached is a fair and reasonable one and acknowledges the considerable efforts of both parties throughout the collective bargaining process.”
