British ColumbiaCorrections workers from all adult facilities across B.C. went on strike starting at 4 p.m Friday. The move brings the total number of public service workers on strike to more than 25,000 from across 470 B.C. worksites. Essential workers remain to ensure safety and security of facilities, the province saysEmily Fagan · CBC News · Posted: Oct 10, 2025 8:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours agoMembers of the British Columbia General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) picket outside the Surrey pretrial centre in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2025. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Public service workers from adult correctional facilities across B.C. are now on strike.The strike notice, issued for 4 p.m. Friday, affects non-essential workers at eight jails of the province’s 10 jails and brings the total number of public service workers on strike to more than 25,000 from across 470 B.C. worksites. It’s an escalation that the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) president Paul Finch says is intended to pressure the B.C. government in face of their “lack of urgency and meaningful engagement” in bringing a revised deal forward. Prior to today, workers from the Surrey Pre-trial Centre and Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre were already striking. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey told reporters on Thursday that B.C. is waiting for the union to return to a deal it walked away from last week. “We’re happy to get back to the table right now,” she said. “Our last offer is a good offer and we’re looking forward to hearing from them.”Members of the British Columbia General Employees’ Union picket outside the Surrey Pretrial Centre in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2025. (Ben Nelms/CBC)In a statement, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General said that essential staff are in place to ensure all the province’s correctional facilities will continue to be operated safely and securely. This includes workers’ duties in the community as well, including home visits, the Electronic Supervision Program, and the Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative”Safety and security is our top priority while operating at essential service levels, as such discretionary programming and other supports and services may be limited at this time,” the statement reads.”We will continue to work within the established labour framework to support staff, maintain essential operations and keep communities safe.”Dean Purdy, the vice-president of BCGEU’s component 1 corrections and sheriff services workers, says only nine per cent of the 1,600 corrections workers he represents are able to go on strike, because the rest are categorized as essential. For the most part, those on strike work with programs inside the facilities, like operating the wood shop, or in admissions and discharges for inmates, Purdy says. While there may be some disruptions or delays to these services for inmates, he says management will be expected to fill in for those on strike.”We are, for the most part, business as usual,” he said. “Anything that’s to do with life and limb, or the liberty of our prisoners that we have or our inmates, then those essential service levels are set at that level for a reason.”Among sheriffs, 98 per cent are classified as essential workers, and they have enacted a ban on overtime work, Purdy says. The combined effect of this escalated job action, which now encompasses 11 fully struck ministries and crown corporations, is to end the current standstill of negotiations, according to the union.”We have an affordability crisis in B.C. that 22 per cent of our [BCGEU] members work second jobs, 50 per cent are living paycheck to paycheck,” Purdy said. “We just wanna get back to the table.”ABOUT THE AUTHOREmily Fagan is a journalist based in Victoria, B.C. She was previously a staff reporter for the Toronto Star. Her work has also appeared in publications including the Globe and Mail, Vice, and the Washington Post. You can send her tips at emily.fagan@cbc.ca.
Non-essential workers at B.C.’s adult jails are on strike
