BCGEU strike grows: 17,000 workers now off the job as wage fight escalates

The BCGEU strike is now in its fifth week, and the union says the public will really begin to feel the impact in the next few days.

The B.C. General Employees’ Union says it has escalated its strike again, with nearly 900 additional workers from 22 worksites now on the picket lines.

“This escalation includes over 20 more BC Liquor Stores and BC Cannabis Stores, as well as frontline staff from the Ministry of Environment and Parks; Children and Family Development; Energy and Climate Solutions; and Water, Land and Resource Stewardship,” the union said in a news release.

The union says more than 17,000 public service workers are now off the job across the province.

Union calls for ‘serious offer’

“Our members are showing incredible strength and resolve,” said Paul Finch, BCGEU president. “Every day this government delays, pressure on public services grows.”

“Public service workers deserve wages that keep up with the cost of living. The government must return to the table now with a serious offer or job action will escalate further. We are not backing down.”

Finch told CTV News the strike is entering its sixth week and “by the end of this week, almost or more than half of the liquor and cannabis stores in the province” will be out on strike.

“You’re going to see a very significant escalation Monday and every day next week, until the government is willing to come with a fair offer,” he said.

Talks break down over wages

Finch said this week’s bargaining session fell apart when the government arrived “with no meaningful improvement” to its offer.

“Their proposal was for a total two-year additional amount of 0.5 per cent,” he said.

“We reduced our offer. Then we came back and we said, ‘Look, we would like to know if there’s any room to move here. You know, is this a negotiation where we can go back and forth, or is this your final offer?’ And they said, ‘No, we have no room to move. This is it.’ And at that point, the negotiations ended.”

The BCGEU says it is seeking “a four per cent per year for two years general wage increase.”

Finch said the province is offering only “two per cent in the first year and two per cent in the second year.”

“The five per cent number that government has advertised is if you take the two years together and add them and then you take the additional one per cent … that doesn’t go to a general wage increase,” he said. “That’s how you get the five per cent number.”

Province defends its offer

Government officials have said their proposal is “fair and affordable” and that they are “prepared to return to the table” if the union is willing to move.

The province maintains its offer amounts to about five per cent over two years when targeted adjustments are included.

Premier David Eby said Wednesday that his government was trying to balance the valuable work of public servants and the fiscal reality B.C. faces.

Rally draws thousands in Vancouver

On Thursday, the BCGEU says, more than 2,000 members and supporters rallied in downtown Vancouver, filling the streets outside government offices.

The union called it “a clear message: Workers are united, the labour movement is mobilized, and the urgency for a fair settlement is greater than ever.”

Public service workers plan to return to the lawns of the legislature Monday to reinforce their message to the politicians returning to work there for the fall session.With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Rob Buffam