Image Credit: BCGEU
UPDATE: Since the writing of this commentary, the BCGEU and the Province have entered into contract mediation:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/BC government employees are essential in delivering services to the people of BC … whether in healthcare, education, providing forms and documents for all matter of things from name changes, to drivers licenses … business registrations to healthcare cards … and much more
In fact the BC government, in describing just one area -- Service BC -- states: “Service BC provides front line support for many of the hundreds of programs and services the provincial government offers to residents, businesses and visitors.”
But Service BC is just the tip of the iceberg because public sector workers, employed by the government of BC, deliver a multitude of public programs and services.
Important stuff then, right? Is there anyone who disagrees so far? So I’m going to ask this question, “Can we do without these employees?”.
I don’t think so. So why then, why are the residents of BC seeing a disruption of government services by thousand of BC General Employee Workers (BCGEU)?
According to the Public Sector Bargaining section of the BCGEU website, there are now over 25,000 employees either on strike, or partially on strike, at hundreds of worksites. They include employees at the following:
- BC Pension Corporation
- Citizens' Services (including Service BC)
- Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement (CVSE)
- Education and Child Care
- Employment Standards Branch
- Energy and Climate Solutions
- Finance
- Forest Practices Board
- Housing and Municipal Affairs
- Indigenous Relations & Reconciliation
- Infrastructure
- Jobs and Economic Growth
- Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) including all BC Liquor and BC Cannabis stores, the LDB warehouses and headquarters
- Mining and Critical Minerals
- Office of the Premier
- Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills
- Royal B.C. Museum
- Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport
- Water, Land and Resource Stewardship
Additionally, there are 1,900 BCGEU members have also implemented an overtime ban in Corrections, and Sheriff Services.
If a service provided to the residents of BC is important enough that’s it’s delivered by the government, then that service is, in my opinion, essential.
Let’s take a look, for a moment, at the meaning of ‘essential’. Merriam-Webster describes the word as, ‘of the utmost importance’.
Synonyms, or other words that can be used instead of ‘essential’ include ... important, necessary, crucial, vital, and necessity.
Now for me liquor and cannabis distribution doesn’t matter because I don’t use them; but that’s just me. However other areas do matter.
- Vehicle safety – Yes, vitally important
- Citizens Services ... Yes, vitally important.
- Ministry of Finance ... Yes, vitally important.
- With the province’s finances on life-support, can we really afford to have the Ministry of Mining shut down? Yes, it’s essential.
- One of the things the Ministry of Water, Land, and Resources stewardship does is ensure the health of our ecosystems. Yes, that too seems important.
And then there are students who are being affected in a major way. According to the CBC ... (due to) strike action by BC public sector workers, the province has confirmed that StudentAid BC's online application systems have been taken offline, and payments delayed "until normal service resumes."
But even more trouble is coming down the road if the government and its unions can’t come to an agreement. That’s because there are still thousands of additional public sector workers, with contracts currently being negotiated, including those in the healthcare, social services, and in education.
Those too, seem important to me. Of the utmost importance in fact.
On September 2nd public sector workers went on strike, with over twenty-five thousand employees now on the picket lines. And by the look of things, tens of thousands more will be added in the days and weeks ahead.
In my opinion, every government department and Ministry is, or should be, vital and essential to the citizens of BC. With that in mind. Some might say the easy solution is to take away the right to strike.
That is not an option.
In 2015 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled public sector employees have a constitutional right to strike, under Section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
So now, we have a conundrum. Services provided by the government of BC are, or should be, considered essential, however the legal right to strike means BC residents, and businesses, are deprived of services that the require.
There must be a better way for the government, and public sector employees, to settle their differences when it comes to contract negotiations ... because BC residents deserve better.
So what do we do? Does anyone have an idea what the solution might be to end this current, and future work stoppages?
Feel free to share your thoughts in the Comments section.
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