One of the largest public sector unions in BC and the NDP government are working to return to the negotiating table after some 2,000 unionized government workers resorted to Picket Lines on Tuesday in Victoria, Surrey and Prince George.
However, BC finance minister Brenda Bailey warned that “economic circumstances have changed” after the Covid-19 pandemic and the current trade war.
“We are looking for an agreement that supports fair wages, fair working conditions, but it is also just for all British Colombians,” Bailey told CBC News on Tuesday afternoon.
She spoke hours after Paul Finch, president of the BC General Employee Union (BCGEU), warned that there could be more labor actions ahead.
“It will intensify in the next few days or weeks,” said Finch, speaking in a picket line outside the Jack Davis building in Victoria, the office building that houses the Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions.
“What we need is for the government to come to the table to meet the very reasonable demands that everyone here has presented,” said Finch.
The BCGEU is pressing for a salary increase of four percent in the first year and 4.25 percent in the second, as well as a cost of living adjustment.
According to the union, the NDP government has so far offered less than half of that. Bailey did not confirm what the government is offering, saying that negotiations should occur at the negotiating table.
The BCGEU established picket lines in the offices of the provincial government in Victoria, Surrey and Prince George, as well as in front of the Royal BC Museum in the capital of the province.
“We have a common resolution that we are going to fight for fair wages and that we will continue to increase,” said Finch.
He said that labor action will continue “whenever necessary to obtain fair wages in the public service.”
The early editionMore than 34,000 BC public employees take job measures to demand better salaries
After an overwhelming vote in favor of labor action, members of the BC General Employee Union and the Association of Professional Employees have begun labor action this morning. Paul Finch, president of BCGeu, explains why they are negotiating union members and what interruptions could take place in public services.
The BCGEU has around 34,000 members in fields, including social services, medical care, education, governmental liquories, prisons, courts and public administration.
The members include 2,000 workers of the BC Forest Fire Service, 2,350 Correctional Officers and Sheriffs, and 4,850 retail personnel and distribution of liquors and cannabis, as well as more than 14,000 administrative professionals, according to the union.
The government has said that essential services are not affected.
The previous collective agreement expired on March 31, and the government refused to say what has been offered since then to the Union.
Finch had announced Friday that a 72 -hour notice of a possible strike had been issued, and the deadline expired after midnight on Monday night.
The Public Service Agency of the Province and the BCGEU public sector negotiation team reached a dead point in July.
Labor action occurs after 92.7 percent of voting members supported strikes in a vote published on Friday.
Finch said in a statement that workers are “facing a affordability crisis,” and added that their labor action is a statement that the last offer of the province is “unacceptable.”
“These same people fighting for the end of the month have voted overwhelmingly to attack,” said Finch, added that the members are “willing to fight for the agreement they need.”
The last time BCGeu took work measures in 2022, a two -week strike that impacts the BC liquor distribution warehouses.
At that time, the Government and BCGeu reached a three -year agreement that resulted between a salary increase of 12 and 14 percent for unionized workers for three years.
The BC General Employee Union says that its plan for labor action is to advance. As Pinki Wong of CBC reports, more than 34,000 public sector workers are in a position to attack on Tuesday.
BCGEU members in the Jack Davis building on Tuesday were stirring flags of La Unión while the 1982 success song Eye of the tiger And another music reproduces in the background.
Several vehicles that passed touched the horn in support of the striking members, some of which established road and donut -filled road tables.
The workers of the picket lines declined to comment on the strike.
Finch said the horn reflects public support for fair wages for their members who are frustrated that management salary levels have grown almost twice as much as those of first -line workers.
Association of Professional Employees also on strike
Together with the members of BCGEU, more than 1,800 Government license professionals (LPG) represented by the Association of Professional Employees (PEA) are also on strike.
That group includes engineers, forestry, geoscientific, psychologists and other specialized workers.
The association says it has been in negotiations with the province since the end of May. He is also looking for a greater salary, but it is also after the coverage of professional rates, an “appropriate” compensation for emergency work and asks the province to reduce the dependence of external contractors.
“When the province has personnel shortage, the work that must be done is contracted at a higher cost and this costs more to taxpayers,” said Melissa Morz, executive director of the pea and main negotiator, to CBC News.
“We have cases in which we sometimes have consultants who supervise consultants, so what we are saying is the time to invest in BC professionals.”
She said that if the strike continues, there will be “expensive delays” for the province in forest projects, miners and infrastructure.
“Energy is high and we have a lot of community support,” Moroz said. “We do not want to climb this strike, but we will do it if that is what is necessary.”
