10,000 Strong and Not Stopping until Government Offers a Fair Deal!

For three weeks, members in the public service have been marching on picket lines, and growing incredible public support, for a contract that can tackle the affordability crisis and sustain the public services you need most. 

For three weeks, the B.C. government had the chance to renew their wage mandate and heed the call of over 4,600-plus citizens who sent them a letter, demanding that they fund the frontlines, fix the balance of excluded managers to unionized workers, and settle a fair deal . 

This is what government has done instead: 

👎 Made false claims about bargaining (this round, and previous rounds) 

👎 Tried (and failed) to reach a deal with another bargaining association to undermine our fight for fair wages across public services 

👎 Maintained a wage offer that will keep workers in an affordability crisis 

👎 Risked B.C's economy and services 

So, our public service members are turning up the pressure: Early this morning, members across Liquor Distribution (LDB) centres and warehouses walked off the job. In concert with members at the LDB Headquarters in Burnaby, and five other newly struck worksites, this raises our historic job action to 10,000 striking workers! 

Hear BCGEU President Paul Finch talk more about today's escalation with media outside of the Delta LDB Warehouse, where members walked off the job at 9:30 a.m. And see the full list of active picket lines by visiting www.bcgeu.ca/public_service 
 

Click here to watch YouTube video:
"Public Service Strike - Escalation Announcement at Delta LDB Warehouse - Sept 22, 2025"
 

Why Liquor & Cannabis?

While the Public Service Bargaining Committee has tried, to date, to roll out a strike strategy that minimized the impacts on the public, today's actions will be felt by B.C residents.

It's important to understand though that this labour gap will be far worse (and more permanent) if government doesn't come back with a better wage mandate that can attract and retain the workers needed to sustain public services in the long term.

Today's escalation is about forcing your elected leaders to deal with something they could have easily avoided - fallout in an important industry - so they face the fact that offering public service workers a fair, inflation-fighting contract is the best way to protect B.C's economy. It's important that we draw a hard line now because the outcome of public service bargaining is set to influence bargaining at many other tables. This is our entire union's fight! 

Solidarity actions

•  Visit a picket line near you, click here to see the list of picket locations. 
•  Send an email to your MLA calling for a fair deal for public service workers. 
• Share BCGEU social media content on Facebook and Instagram 
   

As the government's first quarterly budget report last week confirmed: B.C. is not facing a fiscal crisis. Our debt-to-GDP ratio is among the lowest in the country, and debt servicing costs are manageable. None of this is a barrier to paying public service workers a fair wage. 

Government's current offer of 3.5 per cent over two years falls short of inflation projections for B.C. over the same period. Wages in B.C. are up 40.6 per cent since 2016 but public service workers have only seen a 27.2 per cent increase. We're on strike to close that 13.4 per cent gap and keep up with the cost of living. Public service workers cannot keep falling behind.

If this government is serious about building a strong economy and protecting the services British Columbians rely on, it must treat the workers who make that economy run with fairness and respect. And that starts with a fair deal at the bargaining table. 
 
In solidarity,
 
Paul Finch,
BCGEU President

UWU/MoveUP