Stephanie Smith, BCGEU President (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

BCGEU STIKE

Overtime bans, work to rule on the table for BCGEU as negotiations stall

Jul 5, 2022 | 4:25 PM

KAMLOOPS — On June 22, the B.C General Employees Union (BCGEU) voted overwhelming in favour of strike action should contract negotiations break down. That is exactly what happened this week after talk between the union and the government stalled over differences on wages.

The general employees union represents 85,000 public sector workers in the province. The ones currently at risk of potentially enacting a strike are directly tied to the government and listed as essential workers.

The 95 per cent vote was a clear message to union president Stephanie Smith that no deal would be accepted that didn’t account for cost-of-living adjustments.

“We aren’t asking for anything that is outrageous. Members of the legislative assembly, their wages are tied to rates of inflation, they legislated that for themselves. Minimum wage is tied to rates of inflation, as it should be. My rent is tied to rates of inflation, pension is tied to rate of inflation. That’s what we are asking for our members,” said Smith.

Currently there are no future meetings scheduled between the two parties as the employers did not give the union a counter-offer following its latest proposal.

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Despite the challenges, workers will not immediately end up on the picket line as the union is planning other job action.

“We want to be very strategic with this. We want to really try to maximize the impact to the employer, which is the government. We want to minimize impact to people that live in British Columbia and our own members. Overtime bans, work to rule, maybe very targeted job stoppages in certain ministries or certain regions. Those are all things we will consider,” added Smith.

The union has 90 days, from the June 22, 2022 vote, to act on the strike vote.