Luego de meses de negotiations con el gobierno del Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, la Alianza de la Función Pública de Canadá (AFPC por sus siglas en inglés), anunció que no lograron un acuerdo y launched la huelga con 150 points de concentration de trabajadores en todo the country.

“It’s no secret that life is expensive” and “the public service is part of the collective wealth” so “we must not let it deteriorate”, declared to AFP Pierre G., 32 years, civil servant in Montreal who did not want to give his full name.

“We want telework and a salary increase,” added his colleague Farah. “We adapt practically all our lives to teleworking. We no longer want to waste two hours in transport”, added the one who wore a sticker with the message “Alert, on strike” on her coat.

The dispute mainly affects the services for issuing passports, immigration and taxes, but also some of the grain inspectors at the ports.

inflationary blow

“We hoped that we would not be forced to strike, but we have exhausted all mechanisms to reach a fair contract,” pleaded PSAC President Chris Aylward.

“We will continue to strike until the government resolves our main issues at the negotiating table,” he added, noting that this is a “historic strike”.

The last record of a movement of this magnitude in the country dates back to 1991.

The PSAC is calling for a 13.5% wage increase over three years to mitigate inflation. The government proposes 9%.

Inflation reached 8.1% last year in Canada, but it is now halfway there.

In particular, the union is calling for greater flexibility for teleworking. Civil servants, most of whom have been working full-time remotely since the pandemic, do not want to be forced to work two or three days a week in the office.

“It’s important that unions come back to the bargaining table,” Trudeau said Wednesday. While reiterating his support for the right to strike, the Prime Minister maintained that “Canadians will lose patience if the process drags on”.

For Crystal Warner, one of the strikers, what the executive is proposing is “shocking” because “it does not follow inflation”. Since the federal government is the largest employer in the country, “our fight is that of all workers in Canada,” he added.