Solidarity with PSAC workers
Update: As of May 1, 2023, a tentative agreement was reached between PSAC and TBS. You can read more about the agreement on the PSAC website. On June 23, the agreement was ratified by the federal government after being previously ratified by members of each bargaining group.
Today the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) began strike activities. With more than 155,000 participating PSAC members, it’s one of the largest strikes in Canadian history.
- PSAC’s Frequently Asked Questions page provides details on the bargaining process and on strike activities
- TBS’s Collective Bargaining page includes news on collective bargaining negotiations
- The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE, my union as an EC employee) has a useful page outlining its members’ rights and obligations when another union is striking (if you’re in another collective bargaining group, your union might have similar information available)
- The r/CanadaPublicServants Reddit community is an excellent, unofficial resource for strike-related information (along with other discussion topics)
- Kathryn May’s Policy Options newsletter is also an informative resource for public servants and the general public alike
I’m grateful that PSAC is advocating for stronger remote work provisions (which will ultimately make the federal public service more effective and more representative), alongside other important considerations to support Indigenous employees and Veterans Affairs case workers.
Public sector collective bargaining (although it’s often slow and cumbersome!) helps raise the bar for workers’ wages and rights across the country. Strike action will likely be a challenging time for PSAC workers, but it makes a difference for all of us.