Burnaby – From the BCGEU media release of November 13: BCGEU members of the public service have voted in favour of ratifying the tentative agreement reached between the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) and the provincial government’s Public Service Agency (PSA). Of all public service members, 79% took part in the vote, and 89.3% of those who voted supported (ratified) the tentative agreement. This marks the official end of a historic eight-week strike by public service workers.
BCGEU President Paul Finch says this agreement would not be possible without the tenacity and solidarity of members who stood together for weeks on end to demand a fair deal.
“The focus of this victory is the unwavering determination shown by BCGEU and PEA members as they stood on the lines and did what it took to achieve these gains,” said Finch. “For eight difficult weeks, they stood firm—fighting for a strong public service that makes our province work. This deal proves that workers standing together is how real progress is made.”
This agreement represents meaningful movement toward closing the gap between public sector wages and the rising cost of living and makes significant progress on key issues such as wages, affordability, and respect for frontline public service workers.
Under the agreement, employees will receive a general wage increase of 3% per year for four years, along with additional targeted pay adjustments for the lowest paid workers in the public service to address the affordability crisis. It also includes a range of non-monetary improvements and enhanced benefits, including:
- Proper classification and evaluation of job duties to ensure that members are fairly compensated for the work they do, with the formation of a joint committee to develop a new, relevant and fair system of classification evaluation to replace the existing Public Service Job Evaluation Plan (PSJEP).
- Stronger job protections, including a new process to review excluded positions and return improperly excluded ones to the bargaining unit.
- A faster grievance tribunal process to resolve disputes more efficiently.
- Improved vision care and counselling benefits to better support mental health and overall wellbeing.
- Established a category of fully remote workers that have unique agreement protections.
“This agreement is what is needed to help keep experienced public service workers in their jobs,” Finch said. “It helps ensure they’re able to continue to provide the critical services that British Columbians rely on every day.”
The BCGEU maintained essential services and tried to focus job action on government operations in the initial weeks of the strike to minimize disruption to the public. Finch thanked British Columbians for their patience and support throughout the dispute.
From the Provincial media release: Members of the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) employed by the B.C. Public Service have ratified an agreement reached in mediation on Oct. 26, 2025.
The agreement represents approximately 36,000 people working in occupations that provide core government services, such as social workers, employment assistance workers, biologists, court clerks, sheriffs and correctional officers in public safety, as well as the unionized members of the Liquor Distribution Branch, the BC Pension Corporation, Destination BC and the Royal BC Museum.
Highlights of some terms and conditions reached through the mediation process include targeted market and classification adjustments for low wage and hard-to-recruit occupations, and creation of dedicated remote positions. These changes will help improve and maintain stable service delivery throughout the province.
The four-year term and annual 3% general wage increases included in the BCGEU Main Agreement will also apply across the broader provincial public sector negotiations as part of the 2025 Balanced Measures Mandate.
As is the case with the framework agreement reached with the Facilities Bargaining Association (FBA), the BCGEU Main Agreement in the Public Service includes additional increases that are over and above what will be made available to the rest of the public sector as part of the 2025 Balanced Measures Mandate.
Since 2014, public sector bargaining mandates have allowed for enhanced mandates to address unique challenges threatening critical service delivery at specific tables. This has included the low wage redress mandates in the community health and community social services sectors. In addition to the low wage redress mandates, government is extending enhanced mandates in this round to the FBA and the BCGEU Main Agreement in response to the increasing affordability and labour market pressures facing those tables.
There are more than 593,000 people working across the provincial public sector, including the core BC Public Service, Crown corporations, health, community social services, K-12 public education, post-secondary institutions, and research universities. Of those people, approximately 452,000 are unionized employees paid under collective agreements or professionals paid through negotiated compensation agreements.
*Compensation Data from PSEC’s April 1, 2025 Forecast
