Campbell’s War on the HEU

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Campbell’s War on the HEU

The HEU is the Health care employees Union. Premier Campbell of BC has treated them so badly it is hard to believe.

He tore up the HEU contract years before it expired.
He unilaterally rolled by the cost of living allowance, and made it retroactive. Employess were forced to give back money they had already been paid and had already spent.
He rolled back wages by 15% and made that retroactive too.
He pushed through a bill in an unprecedented single all night sitting of the legistlature that made it illegal to strike, even if essential services were preserved. He did this before even starting negotiations. He did not give even his own MLAs time to read the bill before they were force to vote on it.

Campbell justifies this by saying that health care workers are the best paid in Canada. They have to be. Rents are highest here. In Manitoba you can rent a whole house for $200.00 CAD a month. In BC, the cheapest apartment is $550.00 CAD a month. After the rollbacks the BC wages are $2.00 CAD per hour lower on average than in Ontario.

If Campbell were heading a business and had pulled these stunts, he would be in jail for fraud and theft. The chickens came home to roost with a general strike 2004-05-03.

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