VICTORIA — Contract talks between the British Columbia government and the union representing public service workers broke off shortly after they began on Monday.

Paul Finch, president of the BC General Employees' Union, said government negotiators showed up three hours late and offered scant improvement to previous contract offers.

Finch, who is also the chair of the public service bargaining committee, said the union will "escalate sharply" its job action after the "disrespect" shown by the government.

The two sides were not even in the same "ballpark," Finch said, while speaking to union members outside a government office in Victoria.

"So, our first impulse was, we came back to them and said, 'maybe there's been a mistake, you've clearly called us back to the table,'" he told the cr

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