Province returning bargaining table with public service union after month-long strike

The union representing thousands of striking public service workers in B.C. said it will return to the bargaining table with the Public Service Agency on Monday, Sept. 29. 

Members of the B.C. General Employees’ Union have been on strike since Sept. 2.

The union has gradually ramping up strikes and other job action this month to pressure the province to return to the table with a revised offer. 

Workers at 77 provincial liquor stores walked off the job this week, shuttering stores across the province. 

Strikes at B.C. liquor and cannabis distribution warehouses have also sparked concerns about supply.  

B.C. Liquor said it is taking inventory management measures, including quantity limits on most products, to be able to serve as many customers as possible. 

B.C. Cannabis said it’s not taking any new online orders, and its store at Kamloops Columbia Place is closed due to the strike. It said all other stores remain open. 

BCGEU members at the Ministry of Attorney General also joined picket lines Friday. The union said over 15,000 public service members are now taking job action across B.C.

BCGEU and several other unions held a rally in Victoria Friday outside the B.C. Royal Museum, where members have been on strike for more than three weeks. 

They were joined by members of the Professional Employees Association (PEA), which has been taking strike action alongside the BCGEU. 

Representatives from the Hospital Employees’ Union, the Health Sciences Association, the International Association of Fire Fighters and the BC Nurses Union were also there. 

“This is what solidarity looks like,” said BCGEU president Paul Finch in a statement. “When unions come together, we demonstrate our collective power and remind government that public sector workers are serious, committed, and united in their demand for fairness.”

Premier David Eby said Friday he’s glad the province will be returning to the bargaining table. 

He made the comments to reporters at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in downtown Victoria, just steps away from where the rally took place. 

“We want to recognize [the workers’] remarkable contribution to building up this province, and we have a competing reality, which is that our financial situation is strained,” said Eby. 

The latest quarterly budget update from the province forecasts a deficit of $11.6 billion for the year, with deficits over $12-billion in the following two years. 

Eby said the province will not be able to provide an agreement similar to the last one. In 2022, the BCGEU secured a wage increase of up to 13.75 per cent over three years, tied to the B.C. Consumer Price Index. 

That agreement expired at the end of March. The two sides began negotiations in January. 

The BCGEU is calling for an 8.25 per cent wage increase over the two-year deal. The last provincial counter offer included a 3.5 per cent increase over two years.