Thursday September 19, 2025 | Island Social Trends
News and analysis | by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Today the BC General Employees Union (BCGEU) escalated their job action with new picket lines in Victoria and Burnaby.
- Victoria: 4464 Markham Street (Ministry of Citizens’ Services)
- Burnaby: 4370 Dominion Street (Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch) .
The expanded job action to two strategically chosen sites is to highlight the essential role public service workers play in B.C.’s economy and daily services, says BCGEU in a news release today.
BCGEU members at the Ministry of Citizens’ Services deliver front-line services such as issuing BC Services Cards, processing Freedom of Information requests, maintaining provincial information technology systems, and facilitating BC Bids. Their absence is expected to create delays for individuals, businesses and government ministries, underscoring the critical nature of their work, the union said today.
Members at the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch regulate the province’s gaming industry, including oversight of the B.C. Lottery Corporation. Withdrawing their labour could disrupt gambling service providers and slow a significant provincial revenue stream, the BCGEU said today.
“By broadening job action to these areas of B.C.’s public service, the BCGEU is increasing pressure on government to return to the bargaining table with an improved wage offer, while demonstrating the indispensable contributions of its members to the people of British Columbia and the provincial economy,” said BCGEU in their news release today.
More than 8,500 taking job action:
With today’s escalation, there are now more than 4,600 members on strike at 19 picket lines in cities across the province (Victoria, Surrey, Nanaimo, Kamloops, Williams Lake, Kelowna, Cranbrook, Nelson, Fort St. John, Smithers, Vancouver, Prince George and Burnaby).
Combined with overtime bans by an additional 3,900 other members, this escalation means there are now over 8,500 BCGEU members taking job action across B.C. in an effort to get the government to return to the bargaining table with an improved wage offer.
Pressuring government:
“These workers provide services that touch the daily lives of British Columbians—from issuing BC Services Cards and processing Freedom of Information requests, to maintaining IT infrastructure and managing BC Bids, the platform that connects public sector organizations with contractors,” said Paul Finch, BCGEU president and chair of the public service bargaining committee.
“When this work stops, it creates real pressure on government to return to the table with a fair wage offer,” said Finch. But this pressure may backfire as the public incurs inconvenience or worse.
“Until now, our job action has primarily targeted core government operations, with the exception of the Royal BC Museum. But government’s refusal to return to the table with a fair wage offer leaves us no choice but to escalate. We are now expanding job action to sites that are essential to both the public and businesses—a step we had hoped to avoid.”
Budget crisis or not?
Earlier this week, BC’s Finance Minister delivered a First Quarterly Update with what has become a larger deficit with messaging about continual streamlining of expenditures while still trying to maintain social programs and services — but cutbacks are already starting to show.
Some BCGEU has interpreted the budget news as “B.C. is not facing a fiscal crisis”. BCGEU claims that the BC debt-to-GDP ratio is among the lowest in the country, and that debt servicing costs are “manageable.”
“None of this is a barrier to paying public service workers a fair wage,” said Finch.
What the union wants:
“The government’s current offer of 3.5 per cent over two years falls short of inflation projections for B.C. over the same period.” said BCGEU today.
“Wages in B.C. are up 40.6 per cent since 2016, but public service workers have only seen a 27.2 per cent increase. We’re on strike to close that 13.4-point gap and keep up with the cost of living. Public service workers cannot keep falling behind.”
Almost everyone in BC is falling behind. It remains to be seen how the Province will manage their way through the affordability crisis as well as the BCGEU negotiations.
===== RELATED:
- BCGEU escalates job action with overtime ban at Liquor Distribution warehouses (September 14, 2025)
- NEWS SECTIONS: JOBS & EMPLOYMENT