The B.C. legislature is seen from the front lawn in Victoria, on May 8, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

VICTORIA — Thousands of union members representing different sectors filled the lawn outside the British Columbia legislature as politicians inside began the fall session on Monday.

The return of the legislature comes as the strike of the B.C. General Employees' Union enters its sixth week, and president Paul Finch said the rally "is just the beginning" of escalating job action.

"Look around you today," Finch said. "You are surrounded by public servants, union members, public and private union members, members of this community and we are standing united with a clear voice: we want a fair deal now."

Finch said the large protest was organized to coincide with the return of the legislature to show the "resolve" of their members and that they "are here to win."

Finch was the final speaker during Monday's rally that included other labour leaders, such as Sussanne Skidmore, president of the BC Federation of Labour, and Bert Blundon, the head of the National Union of Public and General Employees.

Talks between the union and government resumed and quickly broke off last week.

Pickets remain up around government buildings, numerous government liquor and cannabis stores and their distribution warehouses.

The union said 22,000 of its 34,000 members are out on strike, and Finch later told reporters that the union will "be ramping up" job action until government returns to the bargaining table.

"I think most people, most working people in this government, expect better out of this government."

Finch said union members are already starting to "withdraw" support for the B.C. New Democrats, in a further push to force the government back to the table with a "reasonable offer."

"It's a decision that people make collectively, getting together with their co-workers, getting together with their friends and colleagues, their families," he said. "That's how politics work."

Inside the legislature on Monday, Finance Minister Brenda Bailey said the government respects the rights of workers to strike, and hopes to get back to the bargaining table soon.

"We hear them loud and clear," she said, when asked for reaction about the protest and its size. "But the reality is, we must find an agreement that is both fair to these government workers, but also to taxpayers in British Columbia."

Bailey said she isn't looking at the dispute "through a political lens," when asked about Finch's comments that union members are starting to withdraw their support for the NDP.

"I'm looking at this from the lens as minister of finance," she said.

The provincial deficit is currently forecast at a record-setting figure of $11.6 billion.

Finch and Bailey spoke just hours after the provincial legislature returned in the fall session with four official parties, two independents, and the expectation of searing political debate.

Conservative Leader John Rustad said during the first Question Period of the fall session that Monday's rally was a direct result of the deficit.

"This government is broke," Rustad said. "We have thousands of workers out on the lawn of this building protesting because they can't be treated fairly."

Support for the workers came from B.C. Green Party house leader Rob Botterell.

"Public service workers in British Columbia are pushed to the brink," he said. "This government is in the history books for all the wrong reasons. They have let one of the longest public service strikes drag on for six weeks."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025