After weeks of uncertainty, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has confirmed that 155,000 public servants will be on strike as of Wednesday morning.
PSAC’s national president Chris Aylward told reporters that union members will be on strike as of one minute after midnight (Wednesday morning), with picket lines to be set up in more than 250 locations across the country. All members, except about 30,000 workers deemed as essential workers, are expected to report to a picket line, making this the largest federal public service work stoppage since 1991.
In a press release issued following the Tuesday evening announcement, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat said it had “done everything it can” to reach a deal and avoid disrupting services Canadians rely on. The release added that Canadians should expect some government services to be delayed or unavailable as a result of the strike, with Treasury Board calling on PSAC to work with the department to build on the progress they’ve already made.
Aylward said PSAC would stay at the bargaining table while workers strike but that both sides are still at odds in their negotiations. The union’s strike fund sat at over $43 million as of 2021. “We are still aways (sic) apart but we’re staying at the table because we’re still hopeful and our goal is still to get to a tentative agreement,” Aylward said. “That’s why we’re staying at the table and we will remain at the table until we reach a tentative agreement if the employer is prepared to stay at the table as well.”
This is an excerpt from the Ottawa Citizen https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/psac-provides-bargaining-update