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BCGEU Expands Province-Wide Pickets as B.C. Publishes ‘Final’ 4.5% Offer

Union leaders call the government's costing inflated, leaving talks stalled.

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Members of the British Columbia General Employees' Union picket outside an ICBC driver licensing office, in Surrey, B.C., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. The union representing thousands of British Columbia public service workers set up picket lines Tuesday at provincial government offices in Victoria, Surrey and Prince George as well as in front of the Royal BC Museum. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Striking BCGEU employees set up a picket line outside of the Service B.C. office in downtown Kelowna Tuesday morning.
A member of the British Columbia General Employees' Union pickets outside an ICBC driver licensing office, in Surrey, B.C., Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. The union issued 72-hour strike notice following a strike authorization vote in which 92.7% of members voted in favour of job action. Public service members began strike action on September 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS

Overview

  • BCGEU moved from targeted actions to expanded picket lines in eight additional cities starting Tuesday, adding locations such as Nanaimo, Kamloops, Kelowna and Nelson to earlier sites in Victoria, Surrey, Vancouver and Prince George.
  • The Finance Ministry released details of what it called its last offer, describing a 4.5% compensation increase over two years via general wage hikes and cost-of-living allowances.
  • The union maintains its core wage demand of 8.25% over two years and says the province has not returned to the table with an improved proposal.
  • Government fact sheets value the union’s full package at 15.75% over two years with an ongoing annual cost of $437 million, a calculation BCGEU president Paul Finch dismisses as “creative math.”
  • The Professional Employees Association deployed members to join strike lines, lifting total sites to roughly 22 and pushing the number of workers on picket lines above 4,000, as industry groups brace for potential escalation to liquor warehouses referenced by the 2022 precedent.