BCGEU escalates strike with more liquor, cannabis stores behind picket lines

The B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) escalated its province-wide strike again on Friday, with more workers on the picket lines and more stores behind them.

A full list of striking worksites is available at this link.

The strike is now coming to the end of the fifth week, with no end in sight between the union and the provincial government.

Friday’s escalation saw almost 900 additional workers from 22 worksites joining the job action, 20 more B.C. liquor and cannabis stores and front-line staff from the Ministry of Environment and Parks; Children & Family Development; Energy and Climate Solutions; and Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.

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“Our members are showing incredible strength and resolve,” Paul Finch, BCGEU president and chair of the public service bargaining committee, said in a statement.

“Every day this government delays, pressure on public services grows. Public service workers deserve wages that keep up with the cost of living. The government must return to the table now with a serious offer—or job action will escalate further. We are not backing down.”

1:58 Hundreds march in solidarity with BCGEU

On Wednesday, hundreds of BCGEU members and other supporters marched through downtown Vancouver in a show of support.

Finch said the government had been offering them four per cent over two years, but B.C. Premier David Eby told reporters last week the government’s offered a revised offer including a raise of up to 5 per cent over two years.

The union says it is prepared to keep escalating the strike after the province’s increased wage offer was rejected. The union says the five per cent is not an increase in general wages. It bundles in market adjustments and other unrelated items, which not all members would receive.