British ColumbiaStriking public service workers in British Columbia have expanded their picket lines to 25 Liquor Distribution Branch retail stores in the latest escalation of job action. Elsewhere in B.C., scientists at the Ministry of Resources are also taking strike action.Elsewhere, Professional Employees Association members at Ministry of Resources are also taking strike actionCBC News · Posted: Sep 24, 2025 2:37 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours agoBCGEU members picket outside an ICBC driver licensing office in Surrey on Sept. 8. On Wednesday, the union announced 600 workers at B.C. liquor stores had walked off the job. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press)Striking public service workers in British Columbia have expanded their picket lines to 25 Liquor Distribution Branch retail stores in the latest escalation of job action. The B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) says more than 600 workers at the liquor stores have walked off the job across the province in an effort to push the government back to the negotiating table.Union president Paul Finch said in a statement that the lack of response from the province “forced” workers to escalate strike action this week.”We recognize this escalation will impact the restaurant industry and small businesses, who are being caught in the middle of this dispute,” Finch said.”That’s why we’re calling on them to join us in pressing government to return to the table. Like them, we are frustrated that government continues to stall and refuses to return to the table to negotiate.” Wednesday’s move comes days after the union sharply escalated job action against the province to include the headquarters of the Liquor Distribution Branch as well as three warehouses.Restaurants ‘used as a pawn’Ian Tostenson, president of the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association, said in an interview on Wednesday that his members are being used as “a pawn” in the dispute, and restaurants are likely to see shortages of liquor supply by the end of this week. BCGEU president Paul Finch says the government isn’t coming back to the table, which is why the union is stepping up job action. (Ben Nelms/CBC)”What concerns us is that restaurants are having to shop around, going to different stores to try to find products. They can only buy three bottles of a product at a time,” said Tostenson, “It’s really disruptive, and it’s no way to run a business.”He said his members are upset that a labour dispute they have no connection to is stopping their work. “We’re being used as a pawn, and we don’t like it.”He said the closure of the retail liquor stores was a surprise. “They’re not just inconveniencing restaurants, but now they’re going to start to inconvenience the public.”BCGEU says the retail store locations where pickets have gone up were chosen because they are a “significant source of government revenue.”WATCH | Job action hits liquor, cannabis warehouses: BCGEU escalates job action to liquor, cannabis warehouses, head officeTwo thousand public service workers from the liquor and cannabis distribution sector walked off the job Monday morning, as the BCGEU says it is ramping up strike action this week. The latest escalation means a total of 10,000 public service workers have joined the job action, after talks over wages in a new collective agreement broke down four weeks ago. CBC’s Pinki Wong reports. It says it hopes to send a message to government with strike action at both liquor distribution and retail locations. “By withholding their labour at both warehouses and retail stores, public service workers are sending a clear message: they are essential to generating the revenue that funds the vital services British Columbians depend on every day,” the union’s statement said.About 14,000 government workers are now taking part in the escalating strike action, which is now into its fourth week. Ministry of Resources scientists now on strikeMeanwhile, scientists working at B.C.’s Ministry of Water, Land and Resources are also taking strike action.The Professional Employees Association (PEA), representing agrologists, foresters and geoscientists, says members at a site in Victoria are now on strike, marking a fourth week of escalating job action.Picket lines from union members are already up at ministry sites in four other Victoria locations, as well as in Metro Vancouver, Williams Lake, Smithers, Prince George, Penticton, Nelson, Nanaimo, Kamloops, Cranbrook and Fort St. John.Both the PEA and the BCGEU have said they want a “fair deal” from the province for workers providing services that are fundamental to the provincial economy.With files from The Canadian Press
B.C. public service workers’ pickets expand to provincial liquor stores
