Kelowna, B.C., joined eight other communities in the province as the B.C. General Employees Union (BCGEU) escalated job action Tuesday.
A picket line went up outside of the Service BC office on Bernard Avenue as the strike entered its second week.
“I sympathize with them you know, but hey, I have to get stuff done,” said Kelowna resident Reginald Sakamoto, who was unaware the office was behind a picket line when he came to obtain a health card.
Service BC provides a range of services including providing birth, death and marriage certificates as well as MSP (medical services plan) cards and it’s where tenants and landlords can file disputes with the residential tenancy branch.
The striking public servants got a boost Tuesday when union president Paul Finch visited the Kelowna picket line.
“The labour movement is behind you. Your bargaining committee is working really hard for you,” Finch told the striking workers. “We are going to win this.”
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The main sticking point in the labour dispute between the BCGEU, which represents thousand of public servants, and the provincial government involves wages.
The union says it wants an 8.25 per cent wage increase over two years, plus cost-of-living adjustments.
The government is offering 4.5 per cent.
“We hope to get back to the bargaining table to be able to hammer that out, to be creative, to support those workers and to recognize the fiscal times that we’re in as a province,” B.C. Premier David Eby said on Monday.
The strike action for now has involved withdrawing services from government offices but the union warns that job action will ramp up if needed.
“We will not broadcast the details of our strategy going forward but I will say nothing is off the table,” Finch said. “Our preference right now is for government to come back to the table before we have to escalate the strike. If they don’t, we will have to escalate the strike in a way that will severely impact the general public.”
During the 2022 strike, picket lines went up at B.C. Liquor and Cannabis Distribution Branches, which led to a brief shortage of alcohol.
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