Advantages of the PEA
The PEA is a union of and for professional employees. All PEA bargaining units except one consist entirely or mostly of professionals — people whose work typically requires that they have earned at least one university degree. PEA members are foresters developing resource policy for the B.C. Government, lawyers providing legal aid for clients of the Legal Services Society, University of Victoria professionals providing diverse academic and administrative services. They are speech pathologists working with the children of the Prince George School District and librarians providing professional services to the users of the Okanagan Regional Library system.
- The PEA is certified under the same law that applies to other labour unions and has the same rights. Employers have the same obligations to us as they do to their other unions.
- The PEA understands the unique concerns of professional employees. “Unionism and professionalism don't mix.” “A collegial approach is better than an adversarial one.” “A union will take away my independence and freedom.” “If we unionize we'll have to strike.” “If we unionize we'll destroy our relationship with our employer.” PEA members recognize these fears because they have had to deal with them too.
- The PEA is built around the community of interest shared by professionals. In the PEA, professionals are not a minority interest group. The PEA constitution stipulates that we will only organize units that are entirely or mostly professional — people whose work generally requires at least one university degree. The interests of professionals won't be neglected or traded away in the interest of the majority. In the PEA professionals are the majority.
- In the PEA, members decide what goes into their collective agreements, not their elected leadership. In our organization there are no “union bosses” to tell you what will and won't be included in your contract terms. Aside from required statutory and union security terms, the contract proposals we take into any bargaining round are the ones approved by the members of that bargaining unit — nobody else. Our agreements are diverse, reflecting the needs and priorities of the professionals in each unit.
- The PEA has very substantial resources: committed leadership, skilled and knowledgeable staff, first-rate legal support, excellent research capacity and better per-capita financial resources than any union we know of. With only 2,500 members, the PEA's accumulated reserves total $7 million — and they are growing. The PEA is very able to provide both material and moral support in a crisis.
- The PEA is effective. Typically our contract settlements are strongly ratified by members. Independent surveys indicate that PEA members prefer us to any other union alternative by a factor of 12 to 1. Provisions in our collective agreements are models for other professionals.
- Unlike other unions, the PEA constitution has no membership discipline provision. We know our members are independent, thinking people. The PEA does not act against members who do not abide by its leaders' wishes. When the PEA executive wants members to pursue a certain action it relies on persuasion, not coercion.
- The PEA is an independent union, unaffiliated with provincial and national labour federations. We do our members' bidding, nobody else's.
- Our collective agreements contain clauses not found in standard union contracts. Some of the special features include accommodation of special professional obligations, reimbursement of professional fees, provision of professional liability insurance, entitlement to automatic cash-or-time compensation for voluntary overtime, and the right to have bargaining disputes settled by arbitration rather than strikes and lockouts.
- The PEA is effective, it is not reckless. Despite several strong strike votes, a PEA bargaining unit has only gone on strike once, and that was as part of a much larger bargaining association. The PEA has a proven record of achieving acceptable contract settlements without striking.
- PEA union dues are substantially lower, at least a third lower, than any other major public sector union in BC, at just one per cent of base pay. And no dues are paid until the union successfully negotiates a first collective agreement.
For more information, email Executive Director Jodi Jensen or call her at our Victoria office at (250) 385-8791, or at 1-800-779-7736.
You can also send an email to organizing@pea.org.
