Some Vancouver Island regional libraries closed due to labour strike

The Vancouver Island Regional Library's Nanaimo Harbourfront branch is shown. (CTV News)

Some Vancouver Island Regional Library branches are behind picket lines Wednesday as unionized library workers begin strike action against the employer.

The B.C. General Employees’ Union says it has been over a week since the VIRL made the union an offer to avert the looming job action.

As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, branches in Comox, Ladysmith, Parksville and Sooke are closed until further notice due to the strike. Other branches are operating without librarians.

"This has been an exceptionally challenging round of bargaining from the very beginning," said BCGEU president Stephanie Smith in a statement Wednesday.

"BCGEU members have been professional, creative and flexible in an attempt to get a deal that meets their needs and makes sure their libraries are the vibrant, diverse, welcoming spaces communities rely on."

The regional library system's last proposal to the union on March 22 included wage increases but "still fell short of what is needed to align VIRL librarians’ wages with those of their counterparts in comparable library systems or to account for the rising cost of living," the union said.

VIRL says it offered the union a four-year proposal within the union's specified wage range, but says the union rejected the proposal and is now seeking "an unspecified increase."

The employer is asking the union to reconsider its latest proposal and suspend the strike.

"The proposal exceeds historically negotiated adjustments, meets BCGEU’s stated expectation, and spares communities and residents from new taxes," VIRL said in a statement Saturday. "The offer still stands."