BCGEU declares overtime ban as job action enters 2nd week

The B.C. General Employees' Union (BCGEU) is calling on its members in public service to refuse overtime as they enter a second week of job action in an effort to secure higher wages and acknowledgement of heavy workloads.

According to an email sent to public service members, only B.C. Wildfire Service employees should be accepting overtime hours.

This comes after a week of job action in which picket lines were set up at four liquor distribution centres across the province.  

The BCGEU represents more than 33,000 public sector workers in B.C. Nearly 95 per cent of those members voted in favour of the strike in June.

Because so many government workers are classified as essential, they can't all walk off the job.

In its email to members, the union says the overtime ban has been introduced to get the government to acknowledge chronic understaffing, high turnover and the excessive workloads employees are faced with. 

"The impact of excessive overtime on workers includes high turnover, burnout and physical and psychological health risks — it's unacceptable and unsustainable," the email said. "Excessive overtime also jeopardizes the services you provide and the families and communities you support."

BCGEU president Stephanie Smith said job vacancies have been left from layoffs and hiring freezes, and the government relies on voluntary overtime from employees to complete work. 

"Hopefully, it will really, really clearly illustrate just how much work there is to be done and just how few people there are doing it," she said.

In a statement, the B.C. Public Service Agency insisted that appropriate essential service levels are in place to ensure that any overtime action won't disrupt critical services.

In addition to excluding firefighters from the overtime ban, the agency said a Labour Relations Board order ensures that "service levels must be maintained in other critical positions across government during the job action."

Smith said the union initially targeted the liquor industry because it hits the province in the wallet but avoids disruption to critical services, such as health care. She estimated about 1,000 members in total were picketing.

Smith has said the union's top priority is wage protection.

It is asking the government for a cost of living adjustment in the new collective agreement, which means future pay raises would be tied to inflation.

She said such salary adjustments are already in place for the province's MLAs, for example, whose pay is raised relative to the percentage increase of the consumer price index.

"We're not asking for anything different right now," Smith said.

The union has not heard from the government at all since it went on strike last week, Smith said Monday. 

In its statement, the Public Service Agency said it had made a "generous" offer which would see the average union member's wage increase by 11 per cent.

The agency also claimed the union had stopped talking — not the other way around.

"We look forward to getting back to the bargaining table. Recently, the parties participated in exploratory talks," the PSA said.

"At the conclusion of those discussions, the BCGEU informed the PSA that it was not interested in resuming formal discussions at this time."

Smith told The Canadian Press the union wants better mental health supports for workers, some of whom experienced abuse on the job from the public as COVID-19 precautions like masking were ramped up.

"We know we're going to be seeing the repercussions of that level of stress and that level of anxiety for a long time," she said.

Employees who worked in offices of the Children's Ministry and the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction were among those who faced the highest levels of backlash, Smith said.

The union says the strike and overtime ban will continue "until further notice."