Ottawa: Canada’s largest federal public service union said that it could begin to escalate strike action across the country from Monday and demonstrations will now be held near the ports. The government and the union remained far apart and both sides are accusing each other of not talking properly.
“We’re thinking of holding sit-ins across the country where there will be a direct impact on the government,” Chris Aylward, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said in an interview on Sunday.
He said this would have a major impact on Canadians and the Canadian economy as it would delay imports and exports and disrupt operations.
“We want to get out of all this as soon as possible. So far, the union has been holding sit-ins at government buildings, constituency offices and places like Parliament Hill.”
Aylward said the government submitted the revised contract on Saturday and the union had also submitted its case the same day, but there has been no response from the Federal Treasury Board since then.
The office of Treasury Board President Mona Fortier and the Liberal Minister, who is monitoring the talks, are saying that the second offer was also made at 8:30 pm on Saturday and a response from the union is awaited.
Chris Aylward said the strike had entered its fifth day and that talks with the government had not yet progressed in a very good way.
The government is not showing interest in resolving the issue. More than 100,000 union members went on strike on Wednesday as months of negotiations failed to come to an end.