Close X
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
ADVT 
National

Public service union to picket at locations with more impact as strike enters Day 6

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 24 Apr, 2023 10:09 AM
  • Public service union to picket at locations with more impact as strike enters Day 6

OTTAWA — One of Canada's largest labour disruptions has entered a sixth day as the union representing thousands of striking public-service workers looks to hamper access to ports.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada says more than 100,000 of its staff remain on strike, some of whom are expected to move their picket lines Monday to strategic locations more likely to have an impact on the federal government. 

"We're actually going to be escalating those actions," said Chris Aylward, the union's national president, giving the example of heightened activity at "ports across the country."

Over the weekend, both sides accused each other of obstructing negotiations and being too slow to respond to key developments. 

Aylward called on the prime minister to intervene and blasted the government for failing to reach a deal two years ago when negotiations began. 

"This screams of the incompetence of Mona Fortier as the president of the Treasury Board, and her team," he said at a press conference Saturday afternoon. 

Still, negotiations continued at a steady drip.

The union president said the Treasury Board had presented an offer on Saturday afternoon, and the union had countered with its own proposal the same day. 

Fortier's office said it made a second proposal Saturday that the union had not responded to by late Sunday.

Aylward ultimately acknowledged the government's additional offer but said it did nothing to advance the union's wage demands. The union is also fighting to enshrine other measures, such as telework, into the collective agreement.

Meanwhile, the Union of Taxation Employees, a subdivision of the public-service alliance that is separately negotiating a contract for more than 35,000 striking Canada Revenue Agency workers, said it hasn't been at the bargaining table since Tuesday. 

Earlier in their negotiations, the CRA offered a wage increase of nine per cent over a three-year period on the recommendations of the third-party Public Interest Commission. But the union has been pushing for a 20.5 per cent increase over the same time frame.

Marc Brière, the national president of the taxation employees' union, says the union is waiting for the Treasury Board to come back with a fair offer and is ready to come back to the bargaining table when that happens.

"There's been close to zero progress over the weekend, and we are very upset," said Brière.

In a statement on Friday, the tax agency said it was calling for the union to return to mediated negotiations in person, but that proposals were still being exchanged on other issues specific to the CRA.

As it digs into a limited strike fund to sustain the nearly week-long job action, the Public Service Alliance of Canada is insisting it will be able to find other financing to continue offering strike pay if the fund gets depleted.

MORE National ARTICLES

Judge awards legal costs to former Vancouver mayor

Judge awards legal costs to former Vancouver mayor
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Wendy Baker's judgment says the defamation claims had "substantial merit," but found Stewart's statements were not malicious and were fair game because the issues were in the public interest and had been widely reported.

Judge awards legal costs to former Vancouver mayor

Ottawa to spend $1.5B on drugs for rare diseases

Ottawa to spend $1.5B on drugs for rare diseases
The federal government says it will spend up to $1.5 billion over the next three years to improve access to drugs used to treat rare diseases. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says up to $1.4 billion of that money will be used to help provinces and territories expand coverage of new and existing drugs that treat rare diseases.

Ottawa to spend $1.5B on drugs for rare diseases

Biden visit puts defence spending under microscope

Biden visit puts defence spending under microscope
American presidents have a long history of pushing Canada to spend more on its military, including Barack Obama in a speech to Parliament in 2016. Such pressure has come as Canada consistently lags most of its allies in terms of defence spending as a percentage of its national GDP.

Biden visit puts defence spending under microscope

One man killed in West Vancouver homicide

One man killed in West Vancouver homicide
A statement from West Vancouver police says the male victim was involved in an altercation with an unknown man just before 5 p.m. Tuesday. The statement does not confirm how the victim died.

One man killed in West Vancouver homicide

Suspect charged with mischief after more than 20 panes of glass were intentionally shattered at bus shelters: VPD

Suspect charged with mischief after more than 20 panes of glass were intentionally shattered at bus shelters: VPD
VPD officers responded to Granville and Georgia Street around 1:30 a.m. following reports that a man with a hammer was walking down the street and smashing glass at bus stops. Sergey Kurmanaev was taken to jail and has been charged with one count of mischief over $5,000.

Suspect charged with mischief after more than 20 panes of glass were intentionally shattered at bus shelters: VPD

Brace for familiar Canada-U.S. trade anxiety

Brace for familiar Canada-U.S. trade anxiety
The U.S. remains unhappy with how Canada has allocated the quotas that give American dairy producers access to markets north of the border. Canada and Mexico both took issue with how the U.S. defined foreign auto content. And Canada and the U.S. oppose Mexico favouring state-owned energy providers.    

Brace for familiar Canada-U.S. trade anxiety