BURNABY – British Columbia jails have been added to the growing list of sites behind picket lines as public service workers escalate job action.
The BC General Employees’ Union says in a statement that all its remaining unionized staff at adult correctional facilities across the province are now on strike.
The union says the escalation brings the total number of work sites behind pickets to more than 470, with about 25,000 workers taking strike action across 20 ministries, Crown corporations and agencies.
Union president Paul Finch says the escalation is due to the government’s “lack of urgency” in coming to the table with a better contract offer.
The government has said its last proposal to the union was fair in balancing workers’ needs and B.C.‘s constrained fiscal position.
The strike is in its sixth week, but job action ramped up quickly in the last week, with a march in Vancouver last Friday and a rally at the legislature on Monday as politicians returned for the fall session.
The Professional Employees Association, which represents B.C. government workers such as engineers, foresters and geoscientists, has also escalated its job action this week to include more than 1,000 staff from various ministries.
Those participating in job action include environmental protection officers, groundwater hydrologists, litigation lawyers and mines inspectors.
The union notes examples of essential workers who would never be on strike include hydrologists with B.C.‘s River Forecast Centre and child and youth psychologists with the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2025.
