Is the current strike of federal government employees really necessary ? Just 35% of the union membership voted for the strike

By Pepper Parr

April 24th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

OPINION

The right to strike is fundamental.

Members of a union have the right to vote on a strike decision – tell their leadership that they will walk off the job, pick up picket signs and demonstrate.

Union members demonstrating to support their wage demands. Negotiators meet but no solution in sight. Public might have to sweat this one out.

And that they are prepared to forgo their wage and live on strike pay.

And that’s what happened last week.

It was late in the week when the public learned that something in the order of 35% of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) voted to strike and of that 35% – 80% voted to walk off the job.

That walk out shuts down public services across the country – the xx to the public is severe. Passport office stops functioning, revenue, the people who process your tax returns won’t be working and the tax deadline is May 1st.

Is it responsible of the union to pull everyone off the job with a 35% vote?

The signal it sends to the government is that the union support isn’t all that strong – so they too will wait it out.

The government doesn’t have to meet a payroll – we the public have to put up with zip in terms of service.

This strike will end, the government will decide to pass return to work legislation – a little awkward with the government needing the support of the New Democrats to get the legislation passed.

People working for the public service deserve a fair wage and the federal government has the responsibility to take better care of their relationship with the unions.

The situation gets a little muddied when the federal labour relations board raised “significant concerns” about “major irregularities” in the strike vote by 120,000 federal public servants, but has ruled the issues would not have changed the results.

Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.