Members of the union representing thousands of British Columbia public service workers set up picket lines Tuesday in what the union says is a “last resort” in its labour fight with the province.
Members of the BC General Employees’ Union set up picket lines at provincial government offices in Victoria, Surrey and Prince George as well as in front of the Royal BC Museum.
Union president Paul Finch rallied with a crowd of other members at Victoria’s Jack Davis Building Tuesday, saying that pickets will remain up “as long as it takes” for workers to secure a deal that adequately addresses their rising affordability concerns.
“It’s not an easy thing to take job action,” Finch told union members.
“But I want to be really clear. We have a common resolve that we are going to fight for fair wages and we’re going to continue to escalate.”
Finch said that while the picket lines are starting with “inward-facing government services,” union job action will escalate in the coming days and weeks if no deal is reached during that time.
The BCGEU has about 34,000 members in public service, including BC Wildfire Service workers, correctional officers and sheriffs, liquor and cannabis staff and more than 14,000 administrative professionals.
The government has said essential services are unaffected.
The previous collective agreement expired on March 31 and the government has declined to say what has been offered to the union.
Finch had announced Friday that a 72-hour notice of a potential strike had been issued, and the deadline expired Tuesday morning.
He said that when negotiations broke off with the BC Public Service Agency in July, the union had been seeking a four per cent general wage increase in the first year and 4.25 per cent in the second year, as well as an unspecified cost-of-living adjustment.
The job action comes after 92.7 per cent of voting members supported strike action in a vote released Friday.
Finch said in a statement that workers are “facing an affordability crisis,” and their job action is a declaration that the latest offer from the province is “unacceptable.”
“These same people who are struggling to make ends meet have voted overwhelmingly to strike,” Finch says, adding the members are “willing to fight for the deal that they need.”
Striking BCGEU members at the Jack Davis Building Tuesday were waving union flags while the 1982 hit song “Eye of the Tiger” and other music played in the background.
A number of passing vehicles honked in support of striking union members, some of whom set up roadside tables stocked with coffee and doughnuts.
Workers at the picket lines declined to comment on the strike.
Finch said the honking reflected the public support for fair wages for his members who are frustrated that management wage levels have grown at almost twice the rate as that of front-line workers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2025.
Chuck Chiang and Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press
