BC General Employees’ Union getting ready for job action

The BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) says the latest offer from the province simply is not good enough.

Talks between the BCGEU and the province have stalled, according to the union.

“The goal is to have the employer understand how strong our membership is in getting a deal that they can vote yes to,” said Stephanie Smith, BCGEU president and chair of the Public Service Bargaining Committee.

Key issues for the bargaining unit, which represents 33,000 unionized provincial civil servants, are cost of living adjustments and wage protection from inflation.

“Anything that doesn’t address cost of living increases … is in fact a wage cut,” said Smith.

Earlier in the week, Bobbi Sadler, deputy minister for the BC Public Service Agency, said in a statement to union members exactly what the province was offering.

“The average BCGEU employee would receive wage increases of up to 10.99% over the three-year term of the collective agreement,” said Sadler.

Also on the table was a $2,50 bonus for those working “at least 50% full-time and pro-rated for those working less.”

Related links

• Province offers BCGEU almost 11 per cent pay raise with strike on horizon

• Talks between BCGEU, B.C. government break down, union says

While salary negotiations have stalled, essential worker talks are underway, deciding which jobs are exempt from any job action.

The strike vote, with 95 per cent in favour, stands until mid-September.

“We want to be strategic, we want to be thoughtful, we want to maximize the impact to the employer,” explained Smith.

The union says their members are highly skilled workers that can get jobs elsewhere, especially in the current market of staff shortages.

“If we can want to keep them, and we want to recruit new people … we need to pay competitive wages that allow them to live in the communities they’re expected to work in.”

In the statement, Sadler adds the government agency has been working to achieve a fair and reasonable settlement in our bargaining with the BCGEU.

With files from Martin MacMahon