The union representing British Columbia’s public service workers says it expects to see thousands of people in downtown Vancouver today in a show of solidarity over its contract dispute with the provincial government.
The BC General Employees’ Union says members of other unions from across the province will join its workers in a march starting at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Union president Paul Finch said Monday that the resumption of contract talks didn’t last long after government negotiators presented a proposal that was little changed from an earlier offer.
The union says the rally comes during a significant escalation in its job action with the goal of sending a message to the government that its workers are united.
The union has asked the government for a raise totalling eight per cent over two years, while the province has offered five per cent for the same period.
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Finance Minister Brenda Bailey, who has been speaking on behalf of government in the dispute, says B.C. is facing a very constrained fiscal position and the union doesn’t seem willing to make progress on a “reasonable agreement.”
About 15,000 of the union’s 34,000 workers involved in the dispute have been conducting some form of job action, including walking picket lines and refusing overtime.