BCGEU job action expands to overtime strike at liquor distributors

The union representing striking provincial public servants has escalated its job action Friday morning.

The BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) says its members will no longer work overtime at four liquor distribution sites around the province.

Locations in Burnaby, Delta, Richmond and Kamloops are the main warehouses where beer, wine, and spirits are distributed to regular liquor stores as well as commercial clients like bars, pubs and restaurants.

“Public service workers should not be asked to shoulder the affordability crisis while government counts on their labour to generate record liquor revenues,” said Paul Finch, BCGEU president, in a statement.

“If government won’t treat workers fairly, they shouldn’t expect business as usual.”

The escalation will increase the total number of workers engaged in job action to over 6,000, after little over a week.

Other actions by the BCGEU include pickets at government offices and other sites across the province, including Victoria, Surrey, Prince George, Kamloops and Kelowna.

The union is demanding an 8.25 per cent raise over two years, along with cost-of-living protections and remote work rights.

The union says the province’s last offer was roughly half that amount.

The province’s Ministry of Finance has said it wants a deal that is fair to both workers and taxpayers, while the union argues the government’s proposal amounts to a pay cut in real terms.

Both sides have not met face-to-face since July, and union leaders say the escalating strike is meant to pressure the province back to the bargaining table.

In anticipation, Ian Tostensen, president of the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association, said Monday that targeting the liquor distribution centres creates uncertainty the industry does “not need right now.”

“A lot of restaurants probably have enough stock to get them through a week. After that, they would start to run out of product,” warned Tostensen.

—With files from Michael Williams, Dean Recksiedler, Sonia Aslam, and The Canadian Press.