This week our union is launching a campaign to protect the jobs of BCGEU members who maintain the highways, roads and bridges in our province.

You might hear the radio ad we are running in targeted parts of the province. You will be asked to sign a petition calling on Premier Clark to keep our highways safe by ensuring that our professional, experienced, highways workers are retained if highways maintenance contracts change hands.

“This campaign is about protecting good, family supporting jobs. It is about ensuring that experienced, professional, highways maintenance workers who know their region remain on the job,” said BCGEU president Stephanie Smith. “This campaign is about putting road safety ahead of profits.”

“We are beginning this campaign because the maintenance contract for the East Kootenays has been put out to tender without any requirement for the retention of existing employees,” said Rory Smith, BCGEU vice president Operational Services Component 10. “The remaining maintenance contracts will go out for tender in the next few years. It is unclear if these contracts will have any successorship rights for existing workers.”

Take this opportunity to sign the petition. Ask your friends and family for their support.  This affects all of us driving on the roads every day.

Visit the campaign page for more information and to listen to the radio ad.