All B.C.-licensed Professional Employees Association members join public sector strike

Job action in B.C.’s public sector has escalated once again.

The Professional Employees Association (PEA) held a news conference Thursday morning, announcing that all government-licensed professionals in the union are now on strike.

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The union represents more than 1,800 licensed employees, including engineers, foresters, geoscientists and psychologists, among others.

The PEA says government talks broke down in May after the province failed to address issues like wages and job security, which included no longer relying on external contractors.

Speaking Thursday, PEA Executive Director Melissa Moroz said the association’s bargaining committee went back to the table with the province on Tuesday.

“We tabled a revised monetary offer, and the employer came with nothing,” said Moroz.

“The offer that they put to us in July remained unchanged. We’ve been on strike now for seven weeks, standing shoulder to shoulder with our allies in the BCGEU, and like them, we are ready to get a fair deal.”

On Aug. 29, members voted in favour of a strike, issued a 72-hour strike notice, and some joined the BCGEU on picket lines on Sept. 2.

As of Thursday, all government-licensed PEA members have now joined the strike.

“This is a very big deal for our small union. We’ve only ever been on strike once, and we will be going into week eight of a strike. I think this demonstrates the resolve and seriousness of our Members. We want a fair deal. It’s time for the government to come back to the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith.”

BCGEU strike continues to affect liquor-dependent businesses

The BCGEU’s strike is now in its seventh week, and some restaurants say it continues to hurt business.

Joshua Carlson, wine director for the Wine Bar at Provence Marinaside, says the restaurant was able to prepare, knowing the strike was coming.

“We were able to purchase a lot of inventory ahead of time… I worry for some of the small businesses, particularly small agencies, who depend on the sales of their products to put food on their tables, feed their children and keep the inventory going for when Christmas is coming. There’s going to be a large backlog once the LDB resumes business, and being able to settle those orders and get things ready for the Christmas season will be very challenging,” said Carlson.

He feels the industry as a whole is suffering as booze sales make up a big chunk of the bottom line.

“I worry for some of the smaller restaurants who can’t hold inventory and who’ve had to pivot to wines from B.C. or products from B.C. Because as we all know, there was a cold snap, and there is limited inventory from some of the B.C. wineries.”

Carlson says there are definitely challenges.

“Not being able to fill those holes with listed items from the liquor store, or being able to fulfill orders from speculative products,” he said.
“We are very flexible that we do our printing in-house, and we can change our menu on the fly as we need. But there are other restaurants that I worry about that won’t be able to maintain the same amount of stock.”

At the end of the day, he says, if people want to drink and something is available, they’ll drink it.

“We’ve run out of the coffee-based spirits and some of the more popular items like Kahlua, and there isn’t a coffee-based liqueur that we have found from the B.C. market that satisfies the espresso martinis, but we found other coffee-based cocktails that our guests are enjoying.”

Carlson maintains that customers have been very understanding so far, but he isn’t sure how long that sentiment, nor the restaurant’s supplies, will last as the strike drags on.

—With files from Angelina Ravelli

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article described the escalation as including all members of the Professional Employees Association. In fact, it is limited to government-licensed professionals represented by the union, specifically.