B.C. public service workers to rally in Vancouver after contract talks break down

VANCOUVER – The union representing 34,000 public sector workers in British Columbia says members of other unions will join a rally in downtown Vancouver on Wednesday to show they are “not backing down” after contract talks stalled with the government. 

A statement from the BC General Employees’ Union says thousands of striking workers are expected to take part in a march and rally starting at the Vancouver Art Gallery and ending near the Vancouver Convention Centre.

The planned event is part of what the union describes as a “significant escalation” in its job action after talks broke down with the government on Monday.

The union says it aims to send a message that “workers are united, determined, and not backing down,” as about 15,000 of its members are already involved in some form of job action.

Union president Paul Finch says they had returned to the bargaining table at the invitation of the B.C. government, but talks broke down shortly after they began.

Finch says government negotiators presented a proposal in which wages were hardly increased from previous offers, though Finance Minister Brenda Bailey disagreed with his claim.

“I think this was, in my view, a cheap stunt,” Finch told workers gathered outside a government office in Victoria on Monday. “There’s no point in calling us back to the table if you are not going to present something materially different.”

The BCGEU had been asking for wage increases totalling 8.25 per cent over two years, but said in a statement Monday that it countered the government’s offer with a wage increase of four per cent in each year of a two-year agreement. 

Finch said the province had been offering four per cent over two years, but presented a five-per-cent increase over two years in talks on Monday. 

Bailey, who has been the speaking on behalf of the government during the dispute, said the offer was different, and it was not a time where “large swings” would be seen in contract talks.

The province is facing “a very constrained fiscal environment,” she said in an interview on Monday.

“We want to work toward an agreement that is fair for this group of very important government workers, many of whom are our friends, but we are not willing to do that at any cost,” she said.

Neither Bailey nor Finch offered clues about when negotiations might resume.

“Talks are off until government comes back with a real offer, full stop,” Finch said Monday, drawing loud cheers from the union members gathered in Victoria.

Pickets remain up, including at about one-third of provincial liquor stores, at liquor and cannabis distribution warehouses and at government offices around B.C.

The escalating strike is into its fifth week. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2025.