FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
August 28, 2025 

Subject: Poll: British Columbians back public service workers in fight for fair contract 

Survey shows 74% support increased compensation for frontline workers 

BURNABY, B.C. (Coast Salish Territories) – A Leger poll commissioned by the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) shows strong public support for public service workers currently negotiating their next collective agreement. Nearly three-quarters of British Columbians (74 per cent) say a salary increase is reasonable given the rising cost of living, and 60 per cent are concerned that affordability issues are causing frontline public service workers to leave their jobs. 

The poll comes as over 34,000 BCGEU members working for the public service conclude a strike authorization vote after talks with the provincial government reached an impasse in July. From wildfire response and community care to corrections and social services, workers across the public service are facing an affordability crisis – yet government’s current offer falls far short of addressing members’ needs and strengthening the public services people in British Columbia depend on. 

“People in B.C. know strong public services are essential, and that to keep them sustainable we need to invest in the frontline workers delivering them,” said BCGEU president Paul Finch. "This poll affirms that government’s low offer is out of step – not just with the affordability crisis workers are facing, but with the priorities of British Columbians.”  

Key findings: 

• 74% agree that given the rising cost of living, it’s reasonable to consider a salary increase for frontline public service workers in B.C. 

• 60% are concerned that affordability issues are causing frontline public service workers to leave their jobs. 

• 80% agree that too much is spent on management and not enough on frontline staff in the B.C. public service. 

• Of those who had an opinion, British Columbians are nearly twice as likely to side with public service workers (37%) as with the provincial government (19%) in a potential labour dispute. 

"In our polling over the past year, we’ve seen a consistent theme emerge in that British Columbians tend to side with workers in contract negotiations because of inflation concerns and the affordability crisis,” said Steve Mossop, Executive Vice President at Leger. “The results of this survey show strong concern for frontline public service workers in B.C. and broad support for their rationale in seeking better wages and benefits." 

The poll also shows clear public support for rebalancing the high ratio of non-union management positions to unionized frontline positions (currently one to three), with 70% of respondents agreeing that government should focus on hiring more frontline workers. 

“Government has been hiring excluded managers at twice the rate of frontline workers which means more bureaucracy, fewer people serving the public, and workers forced to do more with less,” said Finch. “We need to fund the frontlines instead.” 

Respondents to the survey did express a need to balance the impact of spending on pay increases with the needs of taxpayers. Still, support for public service workers remained strong even when respondents were asked to make decisions on balancing fiscal priorities. Support for public service workers is especially strong among British Columbians who would vote for the BC NDP if an election were held today. A majority of BC NDP supporters (61%) say government should prioritize investing in public services even when budget choices are difficult (even if it means a higher deficit) and nearly nine in ten (87%) agreed that a salary increase for frontline workers is reasonable given the rising cost of living. 

The BCGEU’s public service bargaining unit is one of the largest in B.C., consisting of over 34,000 members. After negotiations began on January 22, 2025, talks between the BCGEU and the BC Public Service Agency broke down on July 18, 2025. A strike authorization vote is now taking place, starting August 11 and ending August 29, 2025. 

Media Contacts 
Jocelyn Wagner, BCGEU Communications 
[email protected]
Steve Mossop, Leger 
[email protected]

About the BCGEU 
The B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) is one of B.C.’s largest, most diverse, and fastest growing unions, representing over 95,000 members in 550 bargaining units in both the public and private sectors. 73,000 of those members are covered by one of six sectoral agreements in the public sector, and 34,000 within the public sector group work directly for the public service. For more information visit: https://www.bargainingbc.ca/public_service.

Methodology 

The results are based on an online survey conducted by Leger from August 22 to August 25, 2025, with a representative sample of 1,004 British Columbian adults 18 years of age and older from Leger’s LEO panel. Results were weighted according to age, gender, region, education, and presence of children in the household in order to ensure a representative sample of the British Columbian adult population. A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey, but for comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size yields a margin of error no greater than ±3.1%, (19 times out of 20) for the sample. 

Link to Survey

Data tables available by request. 

UWU/MoveUP