Sunday September 7, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated September 8, 2025]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
[Update on Mon Sept 8:]
- Job action will escalate this week with about 1,000 BCGEU members out on strike including in Nelson, Williams Lake, Kamloops, Smithers, Fort St John.
- Will possibly include BC Liquor Distribution Branch locations. BCGEU President Paul Finch says the Province did not come to the bargaining table in Victoria last week.
- “We’re going to keep escalating” until a fair wage is achieved, said Finch. “To this point we have prioritized not impacting the general public, we’ve prioritized impacting core government services. After a while, if government does not come to the table, that will change.”.
- “We’re standing strong and we’re going to be here as long as it takes,” said the BCGEU president today.
As posted on September 7, 2025:
The BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) will further escalate their job action on Monday September 8, as part of their ongoing province-wide strike in the public service, as stated in a news release on Friday.
Tomorrow will be their fifth day of job action that began Tuesday September 2 with 2,600 workers walking off the job (following 72-hour strike notice issued on August 29 after 92.7% of members had voted in favour of job action).
BCGEU President Paul Finch is expected to announce the next phase of escalating job action in the ongoing public service strike, on a picket line in Surrey.
Where the action has been:
So far, job action has been held in these locations (as on Friday September 5): Vancouver (900 Howe St); Prince George (1011 4th Ave); Surrey (10470 152 St); and Victoria (3350 Douglas St; 4000 Seymour Place; 1802 Douglas St; 1810 Blanshard St; 836 Yates St; 675 Belleville St; and 716 Courtney St – no picket line – those workers went to 4000 Seymour).
Background:
BCGEU says their job action is about campaigning for fair wages and what the union calls a modernized contract for more than 34,000 bargaining unit members working for B.C.’s public service.
Negotiations between the BCGEU and the BC Public Service Agency (PSA) began on January 22 of this year but broke down on July 18, as reported by BCGEU.
When on strike, BCGEU members receive only strike pay, not their full wages. Balancing that against the BCGEU determined need to fight for higher wages falls within the broader ‘cost of living / affordability’ challenge that many workers are facing in BC.
The BC Government (Premier and finance minister) both said last week that budget decisions taken by the government must be in the best interest of all British Columbians.
Both statements indicate a holding of the line on wages for some sectors over others as the trade war continues with the United States and Canada begins a long journey to economic diversification with far less dependence on the United States.
Eby added that BC will be “the engine of the new economy” with emphasis on economic development and resource development.
Being free from dependence on the United States will increase BC and Canada’s prosperity as a whole, Eby said last Thursday.
ICBC has been hit hard:
An Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) office in Surrey was impacted by the strike last week, in that people could not get into the driver licencing office at Guildford Corporate Centre. But their experience is an example of service delivery adaptation.
Eventually, last week ICBC customers were asked to go to other ICBC locations (including the Driver Licencing Office in Surrey at 13426 78th Avenue).
On Friday ICBC advised that all appointments at the Guildford location had been cancelled for that day (Sept 5).
ICBC appointments can be rebooked at icbc.com. The website can also be used to transact paying tickets, accessing a driving record, or address changes.
The 78th Avenue location got backlogged, so ICBC on Friday recommended other driving licensing locations that can provide services including the ICBC offices at 19950 Willowbrook Dr, Langley; 1930 Oxford Connector, Port Coquitlam; 3880 Lougheed Highway, Burnaby; and 232-4820 Kingsway, Burnaby).
Timeline:
Negotiations between the BCGEU and the PSA began on January 22, 2025. Talks reached an impasse last month after the collective agreement expired on March 31, 2025. Members are calling for a wage package that keeps pace with the rising cost of living and recognizes their vital contributions to the province.
“Job action will continue to escalate until government brings a fair offer,” says BCGEU. “The employer’s refusal to put forward a wage proposal that meaningfully addresses the affordability crisis leaves us no choice but to escalate job action,” said Finch in a news release last week.
The BCGEU is one of the largest and most diverse unions in British Columbia with over 95,000 members in 550 bargaining units in the public and private sector.
===== RELATED:
- Gentle strike escalation on third day of BCGEU job action (September 4, 2025)
- BCGEU strike starts Sept 2 with picket lines in three cities (September 1, 2025)
- BC premier, NDP & prime minister articulate important needs on Labour Day (September 1, 2025)
- BCGEU public sector workers could strike by Sept 2 (August 30, 2025)
- BCGEU strikers joined by PEA at downtown Victoria street rally (August 17, 2022)
- NEWS SECTIONS: 43rd BC PARLIAMENT | JOBS & EMPLOYMENT | AFFORDABILITY | EDITORIALS