the largest public sector strike in Canadian history is currently ongoing
the sheer size of PSAC means that when it wins at the bargaining table, it raises the bar for all workers.
smaller unions have helped secure rights for all Canadians too
PSAC supports anti-oppression work abroad and in the communities its members serve. If you’re working for a non-unionized employer in Canada, perhaps they can help you too.
workers of Canada, know your history
This is a pretty big break from my typical content but it’s very important to me, so here we go:
As of this morning, the majority of members of the largest union in Canada, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) are now on strike. They actually represent closer to 155 000 Federal public servants.
This will be the largest public sector strike in Canadian history. It’s against the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat which is also the single largest employer in the country, but note that as a result of their organizing unit, the PSAC also represents 25000 workers in the education sector at dozens of post-secondary institutions as well as thousands of provincial and municipal employees. Generally the PSAC takes an interest in organizations that serve the public at large.
These other workers are not currently on strike, although they do participate actively within the structure of PSAC via their Directly-Chartered locals and are likely attending picket lines and showing solidarity in other ways. Same goes for the other major public service bargaining agents, CAPE and PIPSC.
Which brings me to worker solidarity amongst unionized and non-unionized employees and why this PSAC strike in particular is such a big deal. When the PSAC strikes, there likely isn’t a single person or mid to large business entity in Canada that is unaffected, and there are many people abroad who are also affected, anyone immigrating or emigrating to and from Canada and people on diplomatic missions which rely on internal supports fro within the government. The effect is truly global. Public service workers who are not striking (management, people in exempt positions and workers who belong to other bargaining units) are also seeing a dramatic decrease in their ability to get anything done without the essential work of administrative staff, communications staff, security professionals, facilities workers… the list goes on. Things have come to a grinding halt.
The mistreatment of public service workers, on the job and at the bargaining table that’s led to this withdrawal of labour, which means the government will fail almost completely in its responsibility to serve its citizens and other residents of the country.
When PSAC workers see fair gains at the bargaining table, it’s a win for workers everywhere. PSAC has historically been supportive of Canada’s most left-leaning party, the NDP which, while they’re far from perfect especially in their current state, is a party that was born from Canada’s labour movement. The PSAC leverages their financial resources from dues to run its operations yes, but also to support the communities their members serve, lobby the federal government for more progressive policies and endorse progressive candidates for office.
And that’s not to discount the work of smaller unions too. Striking postal workers belonging to CUPW won the right to collective bargaining for nearly all federal employees by staging an illegal strike in 1965. Then in the 80s, another CUPW strike was the catalyst for the eventual institution of Canada’s one year maternity/parental benefits, which was later extended to all Canadians. When workers anywhere strike, the ripple effect can be felt throughout communities, and the sheer size of PSAC can ripples that are more like waves.
The PSAC structure supports Human Rights Committees for Women, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, Racialized members, Indigenous members and members with Disabilities, helping give presence to groups of people that have been historically excluded from the political landscape, and making so that they can participate without necessarily throwing their support behind any particular party. These committees were hard-fought and won by equity-seeking members who are fighting a battle on multiple fronts, dismantling old boys clubs that persist within the Federal government of Canada, and their own union.
Public service workers sometimes get a bad rap for being privileged and working in ‘cushy’ jobs. This myth has been perpetuated by employers and it isn’t unique to the public service. Everyone from software developers to nurses to grocery store clerks are made to feel like they should just be lucky to have a job, really, lucky enough to be able to survive.
You can support fair wages and working conditions for the public service while also advocating for the same for all workers, and you’d be hard pressed to find a PSAC activist or leader who wouldn’t agree wholeheartedly with that. Canadian public servants have always showed up for everyone in Canada, even when their employer broke the most basic tenet of the employer-worker relationship and couldn’t get their shit together to pay them.
PSAC members are in the streets today for the country’s future - support them in small ways, like learning about Canada’s rich labour history and how that intersects with other anti-oppression movements.
And when the strike is over, hold PSAC leadership accountable! They hold a lot of power in the labour activism sector, ask them for their support. If you’re a smaller union staging a strike, reach out to PSAC and ask if staff and members show up at your picket lines or donate supplies - they can and do support that work. If you work in a non-unionized environment and are interested in unionizing, you don’t have to do it alone. Solidarity forever.
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