B.C.'s public service workers escalate strike to correctional facilities

British Columbia jails have been added to the growing list of sites behind picket lines as public service workers escalate job action.

The B.C. General Employees' Union says in a release that all its remaining unionized staff at adult correctional facilities across the province are now on strike.

The union says the escalation brings the total number of work sites behind pickets to more than 470, with about 25,000 workers taking strike action across 20 ministries, Crown corporations and agencies.

Union president Paul Finch says the escalation is due to the government's "lack of urgency" in coming to the table with a better contract offer.

The government has said its last proposal to the union was fair in balancing workers' needs and B.C.'s constrained fiscal position.

The strike is in its sixth week, but job action ramped up quickly in the last week, with a march in Vancouver last Friday and a rally at the legislature on Monday as politicians returned for the fall session.