B.C. Professional Employees Association threatens strike, warns of 'costly delays'

B.C.'s Professional Employees Association (PEA), which represents 1,200 public sector workers across the province, says its members could start walking off the job as early as Saturday, Aug. 20.

At noon Wednesday, a group of government-licensed professionals under the PEA umbrella, including agrologists, engineers, foresters, pharmacists, psychologists, geo-scientists and veterinarians issued a 72-hour strike notice.

Melissa Moroz, the PEA's acting director, says the union is seeking a wage increase that reflects soaring inflation and the increasing cost of everything from rent to groceries.

"They started bargaining back in April and negotiations broke off in May," she told CBC, adding that a strike vote was taken in June.

"Ninety-two per cent of them support strike action if that's necessary, in order to get a fair collective agreement with wage increases that, at a minimum, align with cost of living increases."

Moroz says the union does have an essential service agreement in place for some employees: engineers and foresters will remain on call in the event of emergencies like floods or fires, as will psychologists who work with vulnerable youth and certain pharmacists who provide essential services.

She says the PEA will do what it needs to do to keep the province safe, and the biggest impact will be felt financially.

"If you think of our engineers that rebuild highways and bridges, we all rely on that," she said. "When PEA members go on strike there will be costly delays in forestry, mining, transportation and infrastructure."

But she says the majority of PEA members are ready and willing to walk off the job.

Moroz says union leaders are still hashing out the details of what a strike might look like for each department, and they won't be releasing any of the plans for their next steps to the public or their employer.

"I would think that there will be escalating job action, to put increasing pressure on the employer," she said. 

The PEA plans to co-ordinate its efforts with the British Columbia General Employees' Union (BCGEU), the largest public-sector union in the province.

The BCGEU launched a targeted strike on Monday, beginning with workers at four liquor distribution branches, one of which also supplies cannabis.

"I can't think of a single ministry office where there are PEA members where there are not also BCGEU members," said Moroz. "We will be on the picket lines with them."

CBC reached out to B.C.'s Ministry of Finance for comment Wednesday morning but did not hear back by the time of publication.