Professional Employees Association escalates job action alongside BCGEU members

The Professional Employees Association is escalating its job action alongside the B.C. General Employees Union.

At a rally on Thursday morning, Melissa Moroz, the executive director of the PEA, said every government-licensed professional in B.C. is now on strike.

“This includes all of the engineers, geoscientists, foresters, agrologists, veterinarians, psychologists and pharmacists,” she said.

“These are the people who keep British Columbia safe, and we need them in their jobs doing the important work that we all rely on. I’ll say this is a very big deal for our small union. We’ve only ever been on strike once, and we will be going into Week 8 of a strike.”

Moroz said the union returned to the bargaining table with the B.C. government on Wednesday, but talks broke down quickly.

She added that the union is asking for fair compensation, reimbursement of professional fees and limits on the reliance on expensive contractors.

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“The offer that they put to us in July remained unchanged,” Moroz said.

“Workers don’t make these kinds of sacrifices for small personal gains. They stand on picket lines to protect the public interest and the services we all rely on. As licensed professionals, these workers have taken an oath not only to the province of British Columbia and its people, but also made a commitment to uphold the standards of their professions.”

4:50 Striking BCGEU worker speaks out as contract negotiations stall

The B.C. General Employees Union has been on strike for seven weeks with no end in sight.

The union has more than 95,000 members in 550 bargaining units with people working in areas including health care, community social services, education, highways maintenance, casinos, credit unions, municipalities and regional districts.