B.C.’s Professional Employees Association latest union to escalate job action

More escalated union job action is underway in B.C.

At 10 a.m. in Victoria, the Professional Employees Association (PEA) is expected to hold a news conference, announcing a “major escalation of job action.”

The union represents more than 1,800 licensed employees, including engineers, foresters, geoscientists and psychologists, among others.

The PEA says government talks broke down back in May after the province failed to address issues like wages and job security, which included no longer relying on external contractors.

The association says it was in government negotiations this week, which failed quickly because the province didn’t come back with an improved wage offer. It says the offer remains at “just 3.5 percent over a two-year contract.”

On Aug. 29, members voted in favour of a strike, issued a 72-hour strike notice, and joined the BC General Employee Union (BCGEU) on picket lines on Sept. 2.

The BCGEU’s strike is now in its seventh week, and some restaurants say it continues to hurt business.

Joshua Carlson, wine director for the Wine Bar at Provence Marinaside, says the restaurant was able to prepare, knowing the strike was coming.

“We were able to purchase a lot of inventory ahead of time… I worry for some of the small businesses, particularly small agencies, who depend on the sales of their products to put food on their tables, feed their children and keep the inventory going for when Christmas is coming. There’s going to be a large backlog once the LDB resumes business, and being able to settle those orders and get things ready for the Christmas season will be very challenging,” said Carlson.

He feels the industry as a whole is suffering as booze sales make up a big chunk of the bottom line.

“I worry for some of the smaller restaurants who can’t hold inventory and who’ve had to pivot to wines from B.C. or products from B.C. Because as we all know, there was a cold snap, and there is limited inventory from some of the B.C. wineries.”

Carlson says there are definitely challenges.

“Not being able to fill those holes with listed items from the liquor store, or being able to fulfill orders from speculative products,” he said.
“We are very flexible that we do our printing in-house, and we can change our menu on the fly as we need. But there are other restaurants that I worry about that won’t be able to maintain the same amount of stock.”

At the end of the day, he says, if people want to drink and something is available, they’ll drink it.

“We’ve run out of the coffee-based spirits and some of the more popular items like Kahlua, and there isn’t a coffee-based liqueur that we have found from the B.C. market that satisfies the espresso martinis, but we found other coffee-based cocktails that our guests are enjoying.”

Carlson maintains that customers have been very understanding so far, but he isn’t sure how long that sentiment, nor the restaurant’s supplies, will last as the strike drags on.

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—With files from Angelina Ravelli