Federal workers stage Wednesday walk-outs

Jason Foster, AFL Staff

In an attempt to pressure the federal government into a fair wage settlement, federal workers staged three one-day strikes in August. Pickets went up at every federal government workplace on each of the last three Wednesdays in the month to turn the heat up on flagging negotiations between the government and 77,000 of its employees.

"We are calling them ‘Workless Wednesdays’," says Joanna Miazga, a Regional Strike Coordinator of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

The union also organized a rally on August 22 during the Federal Liberal Caucus meeting in Edmonton to highlight the government’s double standard on wage increases.

If the one-day walk outs fail to spur the government to a fairer offer, then it is likely the dispute will escalate in the fall to a full-scale strike by federal government employees.

The dispute centres around employees working for Treasury Board, which includes all government departments and core agencies such as Employment Insurance, Immigration and federal correctional institutions. Treasury Board is offering wage increases of two per cent in each year of a three year deal. The union is asking for five per cent in each year, to keep up with inflation.

"Our members want to be respected," says Robyn Benson, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for the prairies. "They are frustrated that they are being offered less than the current inflation rate while the MPs, the Deputy Ministers and high-ranked executives are pocketing raises well above the inflation rate."

Federal Members of Parliament recently voted themselves a 20% pay raise. Department executive recently received a 9% increase.

The threat of strike action was enough to bring the government back to the table, after months of no negotiations. PSAC members are hopeful that their strike will prompt a speedier resolution to the dispute.

The union opted for one-day walk outs initially because not all the negotiating tables were in a legal strike position, says Miazga. She says that by labour day, all Treasury Board employees will be in a legal strike position.

Meanwhile, the government deemed about 25,000 workers as "essential", preventing these workers from joining the picket line.