BCGEU, province reach tentative deal to end strike

The BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) and B.C.’s Public Service Agency (PSA) have reached a tentative agreement, the union has announced.

The tentative deal comes several months after negotiations between the two sides began.

Last week, the BCGEU paused its job action — including an overtime ban and picket lines at BC Liquor Distribution Branch locations — as a “sign of good faith,” adding “significant progress” had been made.

The BCGEU issued its 72-hour strike notice on Aug. 12.

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Related articles: 

• BCGEU pauses job action amid negotiations

• Businesses say they’re taking a financial hit as BCGEU strike continues

• B.C. cannabis stores lay off staff as shops run out of product

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Members have been working without a collective agreement since April 1. Negotiations began in February, though the union has said “bargaining reached an impasse on April 6.”

In a statement Wednesday, BCGEU President Stephanie Smith said top priorities for members included wage increases and protections.

“The 95 per cent strike vote we got in June and actioned in August was our members’ response to an offer that showed their employer had not gotten the message,” she said. “After almost two weeks of job action and nine consecutive days at the table, enough progress was made that the committee decided it was time to let our members see what’s on offer and have their say.”

Smith says the province invited the union back to the bargaining table late last month. Both sides spent “nine straight days” negotiating.

“Bargaining is never easy and this has been a long and challenging round,” Smith added.

Deal is ‘great news’ for service industry: BCRFA

The tentative agreement is being celebrated by some in the service industry. However, Ian Tostenson, CEO and president of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association, admits this won’t have an immediate effect.

“It’s great news, happy for the employees — they got a contract — happy for the government that they were able to get a contract, and really happy for industry that we’ve got some certainty now,” he told CityNews, moments after word of the deal came through.

“The unfortunate part is this is going to take several weeks to stabilize the system and get inventory flowing again to the levels that it was before the disruption, but we’ll get there.”

The days-long strike had left many shelves bare at liquor and cannabis stores across B.C., with some businesses also reporting financial losses as a result of the job action.

Tostenson estimates it’ll take about four or five weeks until inventory levels recover.

“It’s a very fluid system which relies on daily distribution to the various points of retailers and licensees in the province. There were hundreds of orders that were not fulfilled that have to be fulfilled and then there’s the liquor stores to fill and all the private liquor stores to fill. And then, of course, some of the stuff, the product, has to come from other warehouses in the province. So it’s probably a bit of a logistical nightmare.”

After a long pandemic that brought lost revenue, strict COVID-19 restrictions, and an ongoing staffing shortage industry-wide, Tostenson says the tentative agreement is good news.

“I honestly don’t know what I can see in the future that’s going to get in our way now. We still have high demand for restaurants, we’re dealing with a labour shortage, but we’re dealing with that … but we just need a nice, consistent runway, get everybody out of our way so we can serve our guests and get our businesses restored. We’re still wobbly a bit from the pandemic and we’ve wobbled again a bit more because of the liquor strike but we should get some clear sailing right now into the Christmas season.”

-With files from Martin MacMahon