1 day ago
Swift News
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 B.C. General Employees' Union (BCGEU) 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," with about 15,000 of its 34,000 members 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."
