VANCOUVER – B.C.’s biggest public sector union says contract talks with the provincial government are deadlocked so it’s asking for a mediator, and it’s warning there will be a strike if mediation fails.
B.C. Government Employees Union President Darryl Walker says the two sides are still far apart on the main issues and he’s hoping a mediator can help narrow the differences.
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The government has offered a three per cent pay increase over two years, but the union is holding out for more, including a cost of living increase, saying its members haven’t had a raise in three years.
Walker says the union isn’t ready to walk away from the bargaining table yet and wants to exhaust all options first, but he warns there will be a strike if mediation fails to produce a deal.
The union represents 25,000 government workers who voted 82 per cent in favour of job action last month.
A strike would involve a wide range of of government workers from clerical staff and liquor store employees to jail guards and social workers, among others.
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