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As the fall session of British Columbia’s legislature opened, some 10,000 striking government workers and their supporters rallied on the lawn.
"This government’s out of touch with working people in this province," said Paul Finch, the president of the BC General Employees’ Union. "We expect better out of this government. I think most working people in this province expect better out of this government."
The BCGEU has been escalating its job action over the past five weeks and as of Friday had more than 17,000 members on strike or taking other job action, about half of the number who work for the core government.
Another union representing government workers, the Professional Employees Association, now has 900 members striking across the province, including some 300 lawyers working in the Attorney General’s ministry.
PEA’s executive director, Melissa Moroz, said the government’s offer would be a step backwards for workers. "It’s about fairness and dignity and respect and compensation that values the work that we perform," she said. "The public is with us and this government is out of step."
Finch expressed frustration with the lack of progress at the bargaining table, but also with the government’s broader failure to address key issues.
Working people want fair wages, safe communities and access to health care, said Finch. "These are things we want in our society, and they’re not delivering on it."
The NDP and the labour movement have deep and long connections.
The president of the BC Federation of Labour, Sussanne Skidmore, is also a vice-president of the BC NDP, a past candidate for the party and treasurer of the national NDP.
"Your fight is our fight," she said at Monday’s rally, noting she is herself a BCGEU member.
"Strikes are what you resort to when an employer just won’t listen," she said. "When you strike our government should be sitting up and taking notice... You deserve respect. You deserve wages that keep up. You deserve a fair offer and you deserve a fair deal."
Finance Minister Brenda Bailey said she is looking at the strike as finance minister, not through a political lens.
"It would be impossible not to listen," she said. "They’re outside my office. We hear them loud and clear, but the reality is we must find an agreement that is both fair to these government workers, but also to taxpayers in British Columbia."
Bailey said back-to-work legislation is "not something we’re looking at at this time."
Even with so many workers on strike government services are being delivered as normal, she said. "I know a lot of people are working really long hours to try to keep things moving forward as best they can."
The government has put forward an offer it feels is reasonable, said Bailey, adding it would keep salaries for most members in line with inflation while providing greater increases to some of the union’s lowest paid workers.
Last week the BCGEU said the government had raised its offer to two per cent in each of the next two years and the union had countered with a demand for four per cent each year. The government maintains it has offered five per cent over two years.
During the rally Finch led the crowd in a chant of "One day longer! One day stronger!"
"We planned to go out much longer than this, so we’re prepared," Finch told reporters. "Our members are strong and they’ve got a good resolve, but you always hope it would end earlier."
The union will keep escalating until the government gets the message, he said. "I think the breaking point’s going to come when government gets in touch with where people are at." ![[Tyee]](/design-article.thetyee.ca/ui/img/yellowblob.png){kind=small}
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