THE bargaining committee representing 33,000 members of the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) who work for the provincial government issued 72-hours’ strike notice on Friday afternoon. The B.C. public service bargaining unit will be in a legal position to take job action as of 2:46 p.m. on Monday, August 15.

The union said it will not be releasing details about the job action at this time.

The most recent collective agreement between the union and the Public Service Agency (PSA) expired on April 1. Negotiations for a new collective agreement started on February 8. Bargaining reached impasse on April 6, and union members voted 95% in favour of job action on June 22. The parties met again in July but talks quickly broke down.

Earlier this week, the PSA invited the union back to the bargaining table. Exploratory discussions were held, and the bargaining committee unanimously decided a return to the table would not be fruitful at this time.

“Our members have been crystal clear since day one that their priority this round of bargaining was cost of living protection for their wages,” said Stephanie Smith, BCGEU President and chair of the union’s public service bargaining committee. “The bottom line is they’re not asking for anything that MLAs don’t already have. The strike vote in June and issuing strike notice today is a message to government that our members are serious.”

For more information on BCGEU bargaining, visit www.bargainingbc.ca