People picket on Parliament Hill after more than 155,000 public sector union workers with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) began a strike April 19, 2023. (Blair Gable/Reuters)
More than 155,000 federal public servants are on strike after the federal government and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) failed to reach a deal before a Tuesday evening deadline.
The national PSAC president announced at a Tuesday evening news conference the strike would begin at 12:01 a.m. ET Wednesday.
“We are still a ways apart, but we’re staying at the table because we’re still hopeful and our goal is still to get to a tentative agreement,” said Chris Aylward.
“Our members are prepared to fight for a good, decent, fair collective agreement.”
Federal public servants across Canada to go on strike
Federal public servants across the country will go on strike after failing to reach a deal. The union says with nearly a third of all federal public service workers on strike, Canadians can expect slowdowns or a complete shutdown of services nationwide.
Picket lines will be set up at more than 250 locations across the country Wednesday morning, PSAC said in a Tuesday news release.
Eight are planned across Ottawa-Gatineau, where the federal government is the biggest employer.
A PSAC worker holds a flag on a picket line near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday morning. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Aylward said he would not disclose details of what is being discussed at the bargaining table, but said the union will remain on strike until its key issues are addressed.
In a news release Tuesday night, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat said it has “done everything it can” to reach a deal.
“The government has presented a fair, competitive offer to the PSAC and responded to all their demands,” it said.
“Even though there is a competitive deal on the table, the PSAC continues to insist on demands that are unaffordable and would severely impact the government’s ability to deliver services to Canadians.”
The federal government also released a series of backgrounders after the strike announcement Tuesday, including one outlining its bargaining position.
The first group, labelled the Treasury Board group by PSAC, includes workers spread across nearly 30 departments and agencies.
The second group, represented by PSAC and its subcomponent, the Union of Taxation Employees, includes Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) workers.
Of those workers, about 47,000 are considered essential and, although in a legal strike position, will continue to report to work. The government defines an essential service as a service necessary for the safety or security of the public, or a segment of the public, at any time.
A strike could affect a range of services, including processing of income tax returns and passports. The federal government has compiled a list of what’s affected by a strike.
President of the Treasury Board Mona Fortier on Parliament Hill in November. Fortier has a news conference scheduled for Monday afternoon, according to her office. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Workers and services involved
Negotiations between the federal government and PSAC’s two groups each began in 2021. The union declared an impasse with each unit last year.
In January, PSAC announced strike votes for the Treasury Board group due to a disagreement with the department over proposed wage increases that are outstripped by the rate of inflation.
Strike votes for this group happened from Feb. 22 until April 11, while strike votes for the CRA group were held from Jan. 31 until April 6.
The union didn’t share how many members voted in favour, but has said the support was overwhelming.
PSAC leadership said Monday all workers in a legal strike position would strike Wednesday if the union didn’t reach an agreement with the federal government by 9 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Public Service Alliance of Canada national president Chris Aylward speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on Monday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Aylward said last Wednesday most members make between $40,000 and $65,000 a year and are struggling with the high cost of living.
The Treasury Board last shared an offer to increase wages by nine per cent over three years, a total that mirrors the recommendations of the third-party Public Interest Commission.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
