Unionized workers at the Law Society of B.C. have voted overwhelmingly in favour of job action and could be days away from striking if a last round of mediation fails on Wednesday.
“Our hope is we can conclude a collective agreement at the bargaining table. If that’s not possible the union has a requirement to issue 72-hour notice before any job action can take place,” said Brett Harper, the senior labour relations officer and lead negotiator for the Professional Employees Association (PEA) representing law society members.
Harper told BIV Monday that the core issues are adequate compensation due to “inflationary pressures” and ensuring paralegals are properly covered by the new agreement, which is to replace the three-year deal that expired Dec.31, 2024.
“There’s a lot on the table that’s unresolved,” said Harper.
What does this mean for the public?
It’s unlikely to have any broad and immediate impact on people’s own legal cases but the society is there to regulate lawyers, said Harper.
The society is a self-regulating industry body that investigates misconduct and, importantly, scrutinizes lawyers’ trust accounts. Society members also play a custodial role when a lawyer is unable to oversee their firm.
“The law society is designed to make sure lawyers in the province are regulated and British Columbians are treated fairly and there is oversight. It’s about members of the public having trust in lawyers,” said Harper.
Ninety-one per cent of the more than 50 lawyers, and 30 paralegals and officers who work at the society voted on Thursday, with 93 per cent of those voters favouring job action.
“This strike vote result shows that our members are serious and ready to take action to achieve their bargaining demands,” said Harper last week.
Paralegals are now included in B.C.’s new Legal Professions Act, which was enacted last year to create a new, single regulator of lawyers, notaries and paralegals.
Harper said while the society is the regulator who will govern all three professions, it will not give its own in-house paralegals the same rights as the rest of the bargaining unit.
The society’s spokesperson, Christine Tam, told BIV the society “remains committed to reaching a fair and reasonable agreement with the PEA through collective bargaining, including the current mediation process, and looks forward to continuing negotiations.”
Tam added “the society values the contributions of all staff members and regularly conducts compensation benchmarking to ensure salaries and benefits are in alignment with market standards. We continue to comply fully with all the terms of the collective agreement.
“Should a strike or other job action occur, the Law Society is committed to ensuring that services remain available to the public and the profession.”
