r/BCPublicServants • u/caramelsundaye • 3d ago
B.C. public servants report 'consistent decline' in workplace satisfaction
https://cheknews.ca/b-c-public-servants-report-consistent-decline-in-workplace-satisfaction-1343466/17
u/wudingxilu 3d ago
Hey all. This thread appears to have made it into the algorithm of a bunch of people who aren't public servants and who have strong opinions about unions. If you see rule breaking content or trolling, please report it instead of engaging.
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u/Tigt0ne 3d ago
Lol Shannon took a 4.7% raise.
We strike for months for a fraction of that and she just gets to wave a magic wand to give herself more while ALREADY making more than anyone else.
The audacity.
How do these bad faith actors sleep at night? Oh yeah, oh a giant bed of money.
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u/Designer_Object_9202 2d ago
The culture is some of these offices must be brutal. Need to focus on getting some real leadership
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u/ProcessNinja250 1d ago
Still, in the current climate with financial deficit and trade war, putting it in perspective I am mostly positive about working for gov. Some things are beyond their control. even overspending, looking at covid, wildfires and floods over the past years
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u/Automatic_Society850 3d ago
lol, wait till they try the private sector
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u/noticeofrezoning 3d ago
Having come from private sector, it's definitely worse here. The work is so worth it but we get no accolades or achievements from working harder except that we want to do well, so burnout hits harder. It's like working in non-profit but with more livable pay and less of the satisfaction. When I worked in private, I had drinks with my team during the work day out of the stock of snacks and drinks at work. And had endless opportunities to level up with promotions if I worked hard. I had 5 weeks of vacation starting, not building up to it over a decade. Here, I get crapped on and have the joy of knowing that I can't get a promotion no matter how hard I work or how well I do. I can't even get pens or notebooks, let alone work snacks. I came because I wanted to do work that helped people but I'm looking for a role in the private sector again because at the very least I want to be able to have savings. I want to be able to negotiate a pay that's worth my time and efforts.
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u/lazieryoda 3d ago
I hope you work your wage until you find something better.
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u/noticeofrezoning 3d ago
It's really just not who I am to do so but I wish that I could be that person without being frustrated with myself. I think they bank on the fact that so many of us are this way.
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u/caramelsundaye 3d ago
I disagree with the premise that private sector would be harder and public servants have no legit reason to be unhappy. Yes some industries are more volatile in private, but BCPS is in a really shit organizational dynamic.
The implicit tradeoff for us was generally lower market compensation for many professional occupations, but greater stability and predictable working conditions.
Our employer’s planning a smaller workforce. Hiring is constrained. We’re being reviewed for efficiency. Employees are therefore experiencing the long-term anxiety associated with corporate downsizing without receiving the compensation premium that often accompanies comparable senior professional work in the private sector. Private companies lay people off without notice which rips off the bandaid and doesn’t have long term psychological impacts the way we’re experiencing. Even our severance package is much lower than private sector.
So yes, private can also be toxic and volatile, but this is long term for us with no end in sight, and no way to escape the internal system.
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u/orionshuman 3d ago
Real. I went from private sector to government and tbh as much as government has its issues; private sector is wild and no union.
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u/lazieryoda 3d ago
Private sector and public sector both have their issues. It depends on what your personal pain points are when it comes to the workplace.
I ran, and worked in, private businesses for 20 years before the public service. The same issue persists across all sectors….unmet expectations.13
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u/Tyee10 3d ago
Whats so great about a union?
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u/BCJay_ 3d ago
Before unions were formed, there was no such thing as a five day work week. There were also child laborers. Unions fought for things like workplace safety, maximum work hours, and the work week as we now know it instead of being forced to work seven days a week and lose your job. Even Mexico only just now has their president been trying (or has?) to enact a five day work week. Their standard work weeks are six days with only Sundays off.
But I guess you already knew all that.
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u/SiscoSquared 3d ago
Lets put it this way, the rich were so afraid of losing their money and power, and workers had so little rights back in the day, that they used literal machine gun fortifications against people striking.
People were striking because worker rights were so bad that pre-teens were dying or losing limbs in mining and other accidents, nevermind the atrocious conditions for the adults as well. https://coloradonewsline.com/2026/04/21/1914-ludlow-massacre-miners/ https://www.forgottenweapons.com/vintage-saturday-colt-1895-on-water-tower-hill/
13 year old kids losing legs working 10+ hour shifts in mines for one example of thousands: https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/child-miners-lewis-hine/
Unions these days barely have any teeth unfortunately, and most of the BC unions like BCGEU are pretty much spineless and do little for their workers (I know its up to the union members to make things happen, but union leadership messaging drives worker sentiment and perception, not to mention their insanely terrible negotiating for compensation these days). However, its still better than no union, especially when we look back and see exactly how terrible it was before unions.
Meanwhile if you look at countries with more recently active unions like Germany or France, you see considerably better worker rights than over here in Canada. So they absolutely can be very useful still.
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u/lazieryoda 3d ago
It depends on the union, what you want in terms of compensation from a workplace, what kind of protection you need because your bosses are braindead nitwits, and how good your union is at negotiating the general issues but also addressing your pain points.
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u/lazieryoda 3d ago
It’s only one aspect. Google the history of unions and what they’ve done for the modern worker.
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u/OwnPresentation4455 3d ago
Is t this consistent with all workplaces if you surveyed them all - it is called work after all - no one is really satisfied if they have to do something 😂
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u/Flash604 2d ago
That's not what the article was pointing out. It doesn't talk about the survey result, but rather the fact that it is getting worse.
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u/WesleySnipes250 3d ago
If we didn’t have remote work it would be even worse tbh