[BCMA] BCGEU Escalates Job Action - BCMA Mail and Phone Update

Tue Sep 9 10:41:57 PDT 2025

*BCGEU Escalates Job Action - BCMA Mail and Phone Update*

Due to the BCGEU Strike, BCMA staff will have limited access to our office
in the Royal BC Museum out of respect for the picket line. Our phone
messages will be checked remotely.

A portion of the members of the B.C. General Employees' Union (BCGEU)
working for the BC Public Service began job action on September 2nd, 2025,
at various locations throughout the province after issuing strike notice on
Friday, August 29, 2025. BCGEU members at the following worksites are on
strike and picket lines are up as of Monday, September 8, 2025:

   - Vancouver: 900 Howe Street
   - Prince George: 1011 4th Ave
   - Surrey: 10470 152 Street
   - Victoria: 3350 Douglas; 4000 Seymour; 1802 Douglas; 1810 Blanshard;
   836 Yates; 675 Belleville; 716 Courtney Street (no picket here; workers of
   this site are picketing at 4000 Seymour)

Negotiations status & demands

After negotiations began on January 22, 2025, talks between the BCGEU and
the BC Public Service Agency (PSA) broke down on July 18, 2025. BCGEU
members working for the BC Public Service conducted a strike authorization
vote, August 11 to August 29, 2025, which resulted in 92.7% voting in
favour of strike action. The BCGEU issued 72-hour strike notice on Friday
August 29 and members began job action on September 2, 2025 (media release
<https://www.bcgeu.ca/bcgeu_public_service_workers_begin_job_action>). Job
action escalated on September 4 (media release
<https://www.bcgeu.ca/bcgeu_escalates_job_action_as_employer_fails_to_table_improved_wage_offer>
).

To find specific information on the union's bargaining demands, monetary
ask, the PSA's counteroffer and more, please see the FAQ here
<https://www.bcgeu.ca/ps_faqs>.

Key demands include resolving an ongoing recruitment and retention crisis
in the public service through:

   1. Competitive wages that address the affordability crisis facing public
   service workers;
   2. Fair access to telework;
   3. A modernized contract with a classification system that more fairly
   values their work; and
   4. An improved process to review and limit excluded positions, restore a
   reasonable ratio of excluded-to-union positions, and protect union jobs.

Wages & economy

The BCGEU published the report, *B.C.’s public service: An investment in
public safety and a healthy economy*
<https://assets.nationbuilder.com/bcgeu/pages/32725/attachments/original/1752859822/2024-046_PSB_Report_-_Bargaining_Explainer_0704.pdf?1752859822>,
to demonstrate how investing in public sector workers is both necessary and
economically feasible. Below is a summary of the findings:

   - B.C. public service workers are in an affordability crisis – and that
   puts the services everyone relies on at risk.
   - B.C.’s public service is smaller than the Canadian total – and we’re
   hiring too many managers.
   - Public spending improves services and strengthens the economy – and
   it’s possible now.

Read or download the report here: *B.C.’s public service: An investment in
public safety and a healthy economy*
<https://assets.nationbuilder.com/bcgeu/pages/32725/attachments/original/1752859822/2024-046_PSB_Report_-_Bargaining_Explainer_0704.pdf?1752859822>
 [PDF]

The BC Public Service workforce

BCGEU members working for the BC Public Service deliver the services we all
rely on to protect and support families, communities, the economy and our
natural environment.

Their roles include wildland firefighters, social workers, correctional
officers and sheriffs, administrative professionals, conservation officers,
court workers, biologists, design engineers, scientific/technical officers,
planning officers and many more. As well, workers like liquor and cannabis
retail and distribution staff generate the vital revenue that funds these
services.

Quick facts:

   - The Main Public Service Agreement is negotiated with the provincial
   government represented by the Public Service Agency (PSA). The PSA is the
   employer. BCGEU members are the only public service employees covered by
   this agreement.

   - The BCGEU’s public service bargaining unit is one of the largest in
   B.C., consisting of over 34,000 members including 2,000 BC Wildfire Service
   workers, 2,350 correctional officers and sheriffs, 4,850 liquor and
   cannabis retail and distribution staff, 3,600 Ministry of Children and
   Family Development workers, and over 14,000 administrative professionals
   working in ministries and departments across the provincial government.

   - The previous public service collective agreement – the 19th Main
   Agreement <https://agreements.bcgeu.ca/document/NElpblBSR2IyQXc9> – took
   effect April 1, 2022, and expired on March 31, 2025.

   - Negotiations for the 20th Main Agreement began on January 22, 2025.

   - The BCGEU was the first union representing workers in B.C.’s broader
   public sector to begin bargaining with the PSA this round.
   - Almost 600,000 people work in B.C.’s broader public sector.

Picket lines:

New pickets as of Tuesday, September 9, 2025:

   - In Victoria: 976 Meares, and 617 Government
   - In Nanaimo: 2080 & 2100 Labieux Road
   - In Surrey: 10475 138 Street, and 14323 57 Ave
   - In Kamloops: 441 & 447 Columbia Street
   - In Williams Lake: 640 Borland Street
   - In Kelowna: 478 Bernard Ave
   - In Cranbrook: 117 10th Ave S
   - In Nelson: 566 Stanley Street
   - In Fort St. John: 10003 110th Ave
   - In Smithers: 3726 Alfred Ave

*This represents an increase to 22 sites and over 4000 workers *
-- 

Lorenda Calvert
Programs Manager

Pronouns: she/her. To learn why pronouns are important, click here
<https://equity.ubc.ca/resources/gender-diversity/pronouns/>

The BC Museums Association office is located on the traditional, unceded
lands of the Lekwungen <https://vimeo.com/275788251> peoples (Songhees and
Xwsepsum Nations). We respect past, present, and future Indigenous stewards
and recognize that we are uninvited guests on this territory.

BC Museums Association || 675 Belleville Street  || Victoria, BC || V8W 1A1

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