BCGEU members walk off the job

This fall, a public-sector workers’ strike shut down key services for nearly two months, disrupting provincially regulated operations across B.C.

The strike by members of the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU), which began Sept. 2, was particularly felt by liquor stores and liquor distribution.

Every government-run liquor store shut down, and workers walked off the job at liquor distribution warehouses.

“Any licensed place that has to buy strictly from government [was] just looking for other sources of product everywhere they could get it, whether it be even Alberta or whatever,” said Ian Tosenson, president of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association.

“It’s gone back and stabilized, and we’re having some very good conversations with the government as to what a more modernized system could look like.”

The main sticking point for workers was higher wages, with Premier David Eby originally saying there just wasn’t enough cash for that.

After veteran mediators Vince Ready and Amanda Rogers were called in to hammer out a new deal, a tentative agreement was reached Oct. 26.

The union said at the time that the deal includes pay bumps for the province’s lowest-paid public servants and better vision and mental health benefits, among other “non-monetary” measures.