The notice from the BC General Employees Union means those workers will be in a legal position to take some form of industrial action before 3 p.m. of Monday. The union, which has 33,000 members who work for the provincial government, said it would not release details of what that job action would be at this time. According to the union, the most recent collective agreement with the Civil Service expired in April. Negotiations have been underway since February, but so far no agreement has been reached. In a press release, the BCGEU said negotiations reached an impasse on April 6. Union members voted in June in favor of job action and although the parties met in July in another attempt to reach a deal, “talks quickly collapsed”. The union said PSA invited it back to the bargaining table this week, but “exploratory discussions” made it feel a return “would not be fruitful at this time”. In July, PSA sent an infographic showing its latest offer directly to union members, bypassing the bargaining team. The chart showed the province was offering a raise of 25 cents an hour, plus a 3 percent raise in the 1st year. There is an additional hourly increase of 25 minutes with a 2.5 percent increase for the 2nd year and a 3 percent increase – with the possibility of another one percent – in the 3rd year. Along with a one-time payment of $2,500, that adds up to about 11 percent more money over three years for the union’s lowest-paid workers, the graphic said. For its part, the union is seeking wage increases of five per cent every year for two years or a rise to match the cost of living – whichever is higher. According to public documents, the government is spending more than $38 billion on reparations. A one percent wage increase would mean another $314 million would have to be found in the budget. The union says it is asking for the same deal given to members of the legislative assembly.
