B.C. and public sector workers’ union break off talks without result

Talks between the B.C. Government Employees Union and the province have collapsed again, according to the BCGEU.

For the first time in two months, both sides met Monday morning to end job action that forced the closure of dozens of B.C. liquor stores and government offices.

In a statement, BCGEU president Paul Finch said, “We came to the table ready to negotiate but the government presented an offer that was barely different from their last one.”

Finch says the province came to the table offering a wage increase of just two per cent a year over two years, totalling four per cent.

“There’s no point in calling us back to the table if you’re not going to present something materially different. We know where the parties are at. This was totally unacceptable,” he said.

Finch says the union will “escalate sharply” its job action after the government showed “disrespect” by presenting an offer that was little changed.

“You can’t just call people to the table to say, Oh well, we’re negotiating, that’s not negotiations. The public are fed up of this. The public are fed up with governments in action with their failure to bargain with their failure to come to the table with a reasonable offer that our Members will support,” Finch explained.

The union has asked for wage increases totalling 8.25 per cent over two years, while the government has said it was looking for a fair deal for both taxpayers and its workers.

The talks had resumed today after four weeks of job action, but pickets remain up, including around about a third of provincial liquor stores, at liquor and cannabis distribution warehouses and at government offices around the province.

The union says about 15,000 of its 34,000 members involved in the contract are conducting some form of job action, from an overtime ban to picketing.

With files from The Canadian Press.