VICTORIA — British Columbia Finance Minister Brenda Bailey says there is some back-channel work going on around the escalating dispute between the government and striking public-sector workers, although she has no date for new talks.

Bailey’s comments come as members of the B.C. General Employees’ Union put up pickets in front of more than two dozen liquor stores and at liquor and cannabis distribution warehouses this week.

The union says about 14,000 of the 34,000 workers it represents in this contract are now taking some kind of job action, from pickets to an overtime ban, in an effort to force the government back to the negotiating table.

Bailey, who has been speaking for the government on the dispute, says they’re “very keen to get back to the table” and are creating conditions to g

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