Finance Minister Kevin Falcon issued the following statement on negotiations with the British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union:

"I am disappointed to hear that the negotiations for the BCGEU Master Agreement have broken down. I understood that progress was being made, but it is the union's right to take a strike vote. It is our hope that the parties will come back to the table to negotiate a new collective agreement for the Public Service. I still believe a negotiated settlement is possible.

"This is not a net-zero mandate, and the government has worked hard to find savings within the 2012 Cooperative Gains Mandate that could be used for modest wage increases for our public service employees.

"The Cooperative Gains Mandate allows for cost savings found outside of the collective agreement, and these can be used for increases or improvements to the agreements.

"B.C. has a legislated commitment to balance the budget in 2013-14 - it is our first priority and we will meet that commitment. There is no desire to download costs onto families or future generations."

Contact:

Jamie Edwardson
Director of Communications
Ministry of Finance
250 356-2821

Information about B.C.'s public sector:
http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/psec/publicsector/index.htm

Information on public sector bargaining:
http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/psec/bargaining/index.htm

How cooperative gains differs from the "net zero" mandate:
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2012FIN0017-000351.pdf