Strike

[Halifax Tar]

Patience with the protesters in Petawawa seems to be wearing thin. The other day some protesters took it upon themselves to physically block one of the gates going on to base including holding up "gate closed" signs.

There are reports of racist comments against soldiers (witnessed this myself) and other civilians being real shit heads.

We got a stern email this week from the bosses bosses boss. No more shenanigans at the gates. Things aren't totally peaceful hear either, but most of the aggression seems to be from the Military folks.

 

[Remius]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/psac-strike-canada-government-offer-talks-1.6825972

I hope the union uses this as an out as I think it has painted itself into a corner recently.

 

[Spencer100]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/psac-strike-canada-government-offer-talks-1.6825972

I hope the union uses this as an out as I think it has painted itself into a corner recently.

If I was the union and can read the tea the leaves the way I see it.

I would use the weekend to do some negotiating get something. Call it a win. Make Trudeau look the hero. and get something the membership. And then back to work.

Giving Trudeau a win here is very important to your agenda. Trudeau is the most friendly leader to your union you will see. The press will make him a hero out of this. "He got the union back to work and it saved the taxpayer X" Look how great it is....etc

Of course I hope they do the opposite.....we don't need a Trudeau with optical win here.

PS when family fights family its never ends well as in Union backed NDP governments when Unions are striking...ie Rae Days. So that is my reason Liberals an this government is the most friendly they will ever see.

The nastiest strikes are the Unionized Union employees striking the their employer the union. Total S^&*show.

 

[mariomike]

...ie Rae Days.

Wasn't all that bad.

Rae days cost 144 hours pay at straight time.

But, we gained 144 hours OT at time and a half.

Our loss was their loss.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

The nastiest strikes are the Unionized Union employees striking the their employer the union. Total S^&*show.

I remember the OPSSEU strike against OPSEU was very nasty......not nice when the Union plays hard ball with less of a raise then the represented folks got.

Giving Trudeau a win here is very important to your agenda. Trudeau is the most friendly leader to your union you will see. The press will make him a hero out of this. "He got the union back to work and it saved the taxpayer X" Look how great it is....etc

Except the Govt isn't a normal employer and the income doesn't stop from a strike, just the number one cost, salaries. It saves money the longer it drags....


In my opinion, which means little, the biggest problem is the Union has a 'raise for all or raise for none". Its how you get the [pardon the expression] the lower end jobs making way more then the private sector, and the higher end jobs making less.
We had it on very very good rumour that Mr. Ford wanted to appear pro-law enforcement, and went to OPSEU with a hefty raise for CO's during last negotiations, and it was turned down and buried hard. When 99% of your membership will never work past 5, a weekend, or be verbally/physically assaulted as part of the job nor could they comprehend it, its easy to be ignored.

Second last contract OPSEU gave up our weekend shift premium for an absolute minuscule raise for everyone......."but its pensionable" was how we were supposed to swallow it.

 

[lenaitch]

If you have worked on the support side of a Base or Wing, you are aware that there has always been one group of workers who are strong union supporters, know their collective agreements inside and out, and in previous strikes have been the most vocal, aggressive, and trouble making. They also operate almost like a closed shop, where nepotism is rife, the only normal way to get hired on is to be a defendant of a current member who gets hired as a student, moves into an apprentice position and then gets an indeterminate position.

Because of the separation that happened several years ago, they no longer report to a Base/Wing chain of command, and they often don't see themselves as part of the team.

Yes, this is a broad brush over a group that contains many great people. But in the four bases I worked on, the sentiment has always been the same.

The sense I get as an outsider and what I've heard from family, "not part of the team" until it comes to an inclement weather stand-down or a sports-day or some similar diversion from work.

Wasn't all that bad.

Rae days cost 144 hours pay at straight time.

But, we gained 144 hours OT at time and a half.

Our loss was their loss.

It wasn't so great for OPP civilian clerical staff who were still members of OPSEU at the time. Paid church mouse wages and no opportunity for o/t.

 

[mariomike]

It wasn't so great for OPP civilian clerical staff who were still members of OPSEU at the time. Paid church mouse wages and no opportunity for o/t.

Scheduling phoned us at the station, and assigned us our Rae Days.

Then, because the operational car count had to be maintained, assigned us the OT.

Didn't make the rules. Just played their game. Didn't try to understand it.

Don't think we were the only ones,

Yup, we cleaned up in Corrections. We tried to explain it but they knew best.............

 

[Jarnhamar]

We got a stern email this week from the bosses bosses boss. No more shenanigans at the gates. Things aren't totally peaceful hear either, but most of the aggression seems to be from the Military folks.

True, that's a good counter point. I've seen that from drivers, and seen a few protesters almost hit while standing in the road.

I understand the frustration. Not all units have understanding "show up when you can" CoCs. Members of the military are hardly in a position to put pressure on the government. Screwing up their morning commute ultimately just dicks families around.

 

[Kilted]

True, that's a good counter point. I've seen that from drivers, and seen a few protesters almost hit while standing in the road.

I understand the frustration. Not all units have understanding "show up when you can" CoCs. Members of the military are hardly in a position to put pressure on the government. Screwing up their morning commute ultimately just dicks families around.

Some of those may be some of the individuals who found it difficult to work with civilians to begin with. I don't find myself working with DND civilians very often, but many of the ones I have had to work with either haven't been the most helpful, are generally difficult to deal with or need to be reminded that they can't give lawful orders and shouldn't randomly start screaming at people. I may not have had a fair sampling.

 

[PuckChaser]

True, that's a good counter point. I've seen that from drivers, and seen a few protesters almost hit while standing in the road.

I understand the frustration. Not all units have understanding "show up when you can" CoCs. Members of the military are hardly in a position to put pressure on the government. Screwing up their morning commute ultimately just dicks families around.

But they're dicking us around for our benefit guys!!!!

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

But they're dicking us around for our benefit guys!!!!

Not everybody gets their raises handed to them. Enjoy the smugness that comes with that....

 

[Eaglelord17]

Not everybody gets their raises handed to them. Enjoy the smugness that comes with that....

Not everybody can be ordered to work as long as their employer wishes as well as to their deaths either. Win some, lose some.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Been through a lot of social/ news media today.
It appears that many Canadians aren't very enamored with their plight. Very little support amongst taxpayers. AAMOF, many are downright hostile towards PSAC and their demands.

The sad part is that even with them on strike, there appears to be little impact on services. Those services are just as bad now as they are when they're at work.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Been through a lot of social/ news media today.
It appears that many Canadians aren't very enamored with their plight. Very little support amongst taxpayers. AAMOF, many are downright hostile towards PSAC and their demands.

The sad part is that even with them on strike, there appears to be little impact on services. Those services are just as bad now as they are when they're at work.

I agree with you, hence why I believe it will be a while yet before it gets settled.
Once the Govt has saved enough money in salaries to pay for the raises given, it'll be over.

Hopefully then PSAC members start asking hard questions to their leadership. This was not a good time to walk out with the way folks are worried about economy/ interest rates, etc.

I'm sure if they'd had been ordered to do another vote they wouldn't have gotten a mandate.

 

[dapaterson]

Settled Monday, back to work Wednesday, a week later all the near zero paycheques come in to frighten people into accepting the deal regardless of what's in it.

PM can claim to have held the line, union reps can claim they stuck it to The Man.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Canada, 2023 Edition

www.fraserinstitute.org

Most people are too busy trying to make a living and survive to pay attention. When they do and notice the disparity, they have little love for government workers. Especially when they consider the value that they, the taxpayer, gets for what they pay.

 

[FJAG]

This sums it up:

 

[dimsum]

The sad part is that even with them on strike, there appears to be little impact on services. Those services are just as bad now as they are when they're at work.

From my POV this is an argument that most, if not all, services provided by DND civilians should also have a CAF (or deemed essential DND civilian) alternate.

So far it's been a flurry of "ok who's the alternate?" on my end.

 

[Remius]

I agree with you, hence why I believe it will be a while yet before it gets settled.

I think Monday will be telling. Most of the people I talk to and what I hear and what’s on PSAC’s social media comments are that people want the union to end this.

Once the Govt has saved enough money in salaries to pay for the raises given, it'll be over.

Hopefully then PSAC members start asking hard questions to their leadership. This was not a good time to walk out with the way folks are worried about economy/ interest rates, etc.

That is or was the prevailing thought in my part of the world,

I'm sure if they'd had been ordered to do another vote they wouldn't have gotten a mandate.

I don’t think they would have had the mandate (if you can call it that) if most people had been allowed to vote. But they made it very difficult to do so.

 

[Chargersfan]

My wife is PSAC….her and her coworkers HATE this strike and just want to go back to work. The mall food court near me in Ottawa is full of PS workers who just want to sit and drink coffee. Only the militant arseholes are doing stuff. My wife said one loud mouth strike captain wanted people to block a main road. Fortunately, the workers just looked at her like she was insane.