Day 2 of Canada's public service strike underway
No updates from union, government scheduled yet
Thursday is the second day of the national strike for more than 155,000 federal public servants under the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).
Day one saw picket lines across the country and the disruption of services that striking staff would normally be working on, including taxes, passports and immigration.
Two PSAC groups are striking: a larger Treasury Board group of more than 120,000 workers across several government departments and agencies, and a smaller tax group of more than 35,000 workers at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
About 110,000 to 120,000 PSAC members can walk off the job when staff doing work designated as essential, such as employment insurance or pensions, are factored out.
Contracts for both groups expired in 2021. The union declared an impasse for both last year, took the matter to a federal labour board, wasn't happy with everything it offered and called strike votes earlier this year.
From what's been shared, both sides agree these workers should get a raise. They differ on how big that raise should be.
The union has proposed a larger raise because of the rising cost of living, saying its members need it and that the union wants to set a precedent for other workers. The government has tabled a smaller one that it says balances the needs of taxpayers and the union's workers.
Another issue drawing attention is remote work: PSAC wants remote work rules included in a new deal while Treasury Board President Mona Fortier on Wednesday expressed a preference for continuing with a hybrid model and seeing how it goes.
There are other common proposals from the union and specific issues in smaller bargaining groups.
WATCH | A recap of the strike's first day:
At two lunchtime media availabilities Wednesday, PSAC national president Chris Aylward called on the federal government to start negotiating "seriously" and said the union is ready to strike as long as it takes to reach a fair deal.
Fortier said that despite progress made over the last two weeks, a fair deal can't be reached if PSAC won't compromise.
In Ottawa the strike has caused traffic delays outside some government offices, and those of some MPs, prompting Ottawa police to warn commuters to expect delays near three protest sites: Tunney's Pasture, Montreal Road and Centrum Boulevard.
Mundadi Diabe, an Ottawa regional representative with PSAC working at the Centrum Boulevard site Thursday, said the union is trying to limit traffic congestion by staying on sidewalks.
"If someone is interested [in] stopping on their own, that's okay — that's great, you know, honking for us. Thank you for that. But we don't want to be the ones partaking in stopping the traffic for any reason," she said.
Each side said Wednesday they were still negotiating. Neither side has called a news conference for Thursday.
With files from Laura Glowacki
