PSAC worker presents reasons that workers are on strike

The Editor, Like many others in our region, I am a public servant and a member of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). Approximately 155,000 employees including me, are on strike. We would prefer to be working - strikes are times of great uncertainty and a concerning to those involved. We are on strike because our contract expired in June 2021, and, while negotiations with our employer have been ongoing for two years, they were not progressing. There is hope that the strike will encourage the parties to continue their negotiations and will result in a fast resolution. However, as I write this, we are one week in and negotiations are stalled.

There are currently two issues on which the union and government have been unable to reach an agreement.

Wage increases: The union is seeking an increase that is consistent with the costs associated with inflation; we have all felt the pinch of higher gas and grocery costs and our current rates of pay are not keeping up. The union has requested 4.5% for the three years covered by the agreement (2021-2023). The Treasury Board has stated that this wage ask is too high, and yet, it seems that Members of Parliament are not insulated from the effects of inflation as they opted to give themselves a raise on April 1, 2023: https://www.taxpayer. com/newsroom/four-out-offive-canadians-oppose-mppay-hike .

Telework/Work from Home: We are also seeking that language related to telework be added to our contracts. The union’s proposed wording can be found at the following weblink: https://psacunion.ca/sites/ psac/files/commonissues_ en_combined_02-03-2022. pdf#page=59 As you can see, the language in no way obligates the employer to allow Work from Home. It provides clear language and a right of recourse for those who believe that they have been treated unfairly.

This is a very contentious issue, while contract negotiations were ongoing, the President of the Treas- ury Board issued a Directive requiring that all employees (with a few exceptions) return to the office at a minimum of two to three days a week. Originally, the decision on how much work needed to be done was left to Management but this Directive supersedes management’s authority on telework.

Why should you care?

In addition to the possibility that you have been or will be inconvenienced by the strike, any gains made in this negotiation are likely set the tone for other sectors in contract negotiations. So, for example, if our union is successful in having Work from Home wording added to our contracts, it may be easier for other work sectors and their unions to request and achieve this - kind of like setting a precedent. Also, this strike is affecting many employees in our community...we have currently been on strike pay for five days and there is no end in sight, so we ask for your understanding at this time.

Thank you, Nicole Brown

Last issue was like Sunday morning at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park

The Editor, Having read the two letters to you that were published this week I fear the Messenger has become a print version of a Sunday morning at Speaker’s Corner in London’s Hyde Park, a mecca for the deranged, bitter and misinformed. One letter belittled the efforts made by the unpaid volunteers who make up the MVCA expecting a Red Cross-like response in the recent climatic maelstrom; the other bemoaned local’s legal concerns while simul- taneously jumping on the anti-woke/transphobic bandwagon that they report is the “silent majority” of the Messenger readership; what utter twaddle.

The reality is the majority of us are considerate and accepting and, in true

Canadian spirit (and I mean TRUE, not the flag wearing, abuse shouting, highway blocking luddites) happy to live alongside and respect our fellow Canadians without prejudice. Please be more representative of the informed and progressive community of Manotick that we all know and love.

Bobby Strawbridge

Editor’s Note – We do not pick and choose the topics of the letters that come into our inbox. Also, please understand that some of these issues are polarizing. You may see the letter writers as misinformed, and they may see you as misinformed. Frankly, we are just happy to give a platform to people beyond Andy Braid. So Bobby, please keep the letters coming