Canada: In what is being hailed as one of Canada’s biggest strikes, around 155,000 federal employees, including 35,000 workers from the country’s tax agency, commenced a strike after midnight on 19th April 2023. Their union has organized the strike in protest of several issues concerning the workers.
More than 250 locations will see the setting up of picket lines, as the Public Service Alliance of Canada has called for a strike after talks with the government failed to yield an agreement. The strike has been organized to address various concerns of the workers.
Coinciding with the deadline for tax returns, the strike involving Canada Revenue Agency workers has caused concern among taxpayers. During the ongoing strike, the bargaining teams would continue to negotiate, as stated by Mr. Chris Aylward, the national president of the union.
“The Government has done everything it can to reach a deal and avoid disrupting the services that Canadians rely on. Despite some ongoing movement at the bargaining table on key issues by both sides, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has decided to proceed with a nationwide general strike,” the federal government’s Treasury Board remarked in a statement.
The primary concern at the heart of the strike is an increase in wages. As recommended by the third-party Public Interest Commission, the Treasury Board proposed a 9 percent wage hike over three years to the union. In response, the union has demanded yearly increases of 4.5 percent over the next three years, citing the need to keep up with inflation. Additionally, it has emphasized other demands, such as more extensive restrictions on contract work, enhanced anti-racism training, and provisions for remote work.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada and the government entered into mediated contract negotiations in April, which continued over the weekend. The union claims that this was the government’s final opportunity to strike a deal.
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