Unions to converge in downtown Vancouver in push for B.C. public service contract

The union representing British Columbia’s public service workers says it expects to see thousands of people in downtown Vancouver today in a show of solidarity over its contract dispute with the provincial government.

The BC General Employees’ Union says members of other unions from across the province will join its workers in a march starting at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Union president Paul Finch said Monday that the resumption of contract talks didn’t last long after government negotiators presented a proposal that was little changed from an earlier offer.

“We don’t believe it’s a fair offer. We don’t believe it’s a reasonable offer. And I think if you talk to rational people in this province who heard that the government was coming forward with a 0.5 per cent increase to their offer to try and settle the strike, they find that ridiculous and certainly we found it ridiculous,” he told CityNews.

The union has asked the government for a raise totalling eight per cent over two years, while the province has offered four per cent for the same period.

The union says the rally comes during a significant escalation in its job action with the goal of sending a message to the government that its workers are united.

“We have a very simple message. It’s not just the thousands of members who showed up today. It’s the labour leaders from both the public and the private sector across the province who are standing united, demanding fair wages for civil servants. There’s a very clear message to the government: come back to the table with a real offer,” Finch explained.

“People want decent-paying jobs and a good economy to support themselves and those they care about. That’s what people want. They want respect at work. This is not a difficult thing, but what we’re seeing is what happens when governments lose touch with the people they’re governing.”

Finance Minister Brenda Bailey, who has been speaking on behalf of the government in the dispute, says B.C. is facing a very constrained fiscal position and the union doesn’t seem willing to make progress on a “reasonable agreement.”

About 15,000 of the union’s 34,000 workers involved in the dispute have been conducting some form of job action, including walking picket lines and refusing overtime.