BCGEU

Hello, my name is Stewie! 👋 Thank you to everyone who voted in our naming contest. You picked a great one.

See you at the next event! 💙💛

In 1973, six-year-old Phyllis Webstad from the Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation attended her first day at St. Joseph Mission residential school wearing a special orange shirt her grandmother had given her. Within hours the shirt was taken from her, and she was given the standard clothes to wear instead. She never saw her orange shirt again.

Years later, Phyllis turned that memory into Orange Shirt Day, a day to recognize, remember and act on the history of residential schools and the loss of culture. Because it was never really about the shirt — it was about a system that took everything from kids like her: their names, their language, their families, their childhood.

That system ran for more than 150 years. Over 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were taken from their families and sent to residential schools, and the last one didn't close until 1996.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) spent years documenting what happened in those schools and called it what it was: cultural genocide. Yet today, that documented history faces newheadwinds of misinformation and denialism.

That’s why it’s more important than ever for Canadians to learn this history and listen to survivors. Rejecting or minimizing these well-established facts, including systemic abuse and the deaths of children, is damaging. It harms not just survivors, their descendants and Indigenous communities, but Canadian society as a whole. Denial keeps us from reckoning honestly with our history and blocks a shared path forward built on mutual respect and truth.

September 30 became a statutory holiday as per the TRC’s Call to Action 80. But Orange Shirt Day itself didn't come from government — it came from survivors and communities. And to most, it will always be Orange Shirt Day!

If you need support, the National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-925-4419.

We stand with the Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc, Survivors and their families, and our Indigenous members following Sunday’s gathering of masked white nationalists near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

Holding a display of hate at a place of profound grief, just days before the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, is an act of intimidation that we condemn without reservation.

Reconciliation requires more than words. It requires action. Hate will not silence the truth, and it will not stop the work of reconciliation.

Read BCGEU President Paul Finch’s full statement: https://www.bcgeu.ca/bcgeu_condemns_white_nationalist_intimidation_at_tk_eml_ps_te_secw_pemc

Fighting for our rights as workers does not end at the bargaining table. Unions engage in political action because governments make decisions that directly affect workers and our families.

𝗕𝗖𝗚𝗘𝗨 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗯𝗼𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘅 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻. 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝟭𝟭:𝟱𝟵𝗽𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟯𝟬𝘁𝗵.

Based on your priority issues, our union will produce a report card to identify where each party stands.

If candidates want workers’ votes, they should expect to be held accountable to their promises.

BCGEU stands in solidarity with and against workplace violence in our schools.

Teachers, and all education workers, deserve safe workplaces. The Greater Victoria Teachers Association's recent study shows what many already know: school-based violence is rising, and it reflects systemic gaps in our public services—gaps created by underfunding.

This isn't a Victoria issue. It's also not a student issue. When we don't invest in mental health supports, alternative educational options, and specialized professionals, the burden falls on teachers and all school workers. Violence isn't inevitable. It's a sign of systems that need better resources.

We call on the B.C. government to fund the supports our schools desperately need. All education workers, students and families deserve better.

Read the report on the GVTA's website: www.gvta.net

The right to strike was built by solidarity, and solidarity is how we'll protect it.

"No government handed workers the right to strike," said BCGEU President Paul Finch. "We won it. Long before there was a legal framework, we won it on picket lines, in general strikes, and by standing shoulder to shoulder when governments and employers told us to sit down and be quiet. Every protection working people have in this country exists because workers refused to stand alone."

The BCGEU is calling on the federal government to withdraw the labour provisions of Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act. This legislation breaks the long-standing bargain behind collective bargaining in Canada and threatens the right to strike.

Our union pledges to support federally regulated workers in their fight against the bill.

https://www.bcgeu.ca/media_release_bcgeu_bill_c-39_breaks_the_deal_on_the_right_to_strike_and_workers_will_answer_with_solidarity

BCGEU is proud to endorse Mike Hurley for Mayor of Burnaby.

BCGEU President Paul Finch was with the Union of BC Municipalities this week, meeting with municipal leaders and advocating for the priorities that matter to our members like strong public services and affordability for working people. He also brought member's campaigns for better funding for libraries, safe, reliable highways and accessible quality childcare to municipal decision makers.

We know that investing in public services is essential to building a strong B.C. within a sovereign Canada, and BCGEU members are central to making that happen. BCGEU is glad for the partnership of municipal leaders in making our province one that works for workers!