"... civilian staff at military bases in Western Canada walked out ... "?
PSAC workers hit picket line
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/10/11/665270-cp.html
OTTAWA (CP) - Tens of thousands of civil servants were on strike across the country Tuesday as bleary eyed negotiators for the federal government and union continued their marathon talks.
Nearly 125,000 Public Service Alliance of Canada members started strike action as the midnight deadline passed, the union said early Tuesday. PSAC president Nycole Turmel said the union had set a deadline "either to reach settlements or to strike." While talks continued overnight, 100,000 general workers and 25,000 members with the Canada Revenue Agency "are taking strike action," she said in a release.
However, just before the deadline there was a tentative deal reached with 5,000 employees of Parks Canada.
There were pockets of strike action across the country early Tuesday. Government centres in Atlantic Canada and Ontario were hit and civilian staff at military bases in Western Canada walked out, said another union spokeswoman who would not be named.
Other government services that could be hit by strike action include:
-applications for EI, Old Age Security, Canada Pension and veterans pensions.
-weather gathering data and reports.
-payments from Revenue Canada.
-Security clearances and record searches from the RCMP, parole board hearings.
Turmel had been hopeful on Sunday that a deal could be reached.
"I am still optimistic that we will get a settlement, but I believe that government has to show more willingness to settle this," Turmel had said.
The talks are complex because they encompass bargaining with six different PSAC groups covering 26 occupational groups.
Talks between the Treasury Board, which represents the government, and PSAC have been going on around the clock since last Thursday.
The major obstacle to a settlement is salaries.
The government had offered a six-per-cent raise over three years, but the union wanted a nine-per-cent increase, which had been recommended by the conciliation board.
Rotating strikes by government workers have been hitting Canadians throughout the summer.
Parks Canada workers first hit the picket lines in the summer. Rotating strikes hampered campers at national parks and boaters were temporarily stranded as canal lock operators walked off the job.
More than 25,000 Canada Revenue Agency workers have also been on rotating strikes, closing tax centres across the country.
The other groups at the negotiating table include program and administrative service workers, operational service workers, technical service workers, and educational and library science employees.
There are 80,000 program and administrative staff. They include customs officials, immigration officers, parole officers, Employment Insurance and Canada Pension representatives. Some of the people in these services are designated and their jobs would continue whether there would be a strike or not.
The 10,000 operational service employees are labourers, trades people, search and rescue workers, firefighters, and coast guard workers, among others.
There are another 10,000 technical service workers, whose jobs include working in government labs and inspectors.
The educational and library science employees are not on a strike path. They were headed to arbitration, but negotiators decided to bring them to the table at these discussions to see if they could work out a new deal.
The union says there is a 20-per-cent wage gap between 11,000 electricians, cleaners and heating plant operators and people in similar positions in the private sector.
The last major PSAC strike hit in 1991, when 100,000 striking clerical workers and secretaries paralysed the public sector.
Union members were legislated back by the Mulroney government with a three-per-cent raise over three years. The Chretien government then controlled all PSAC wage increases for the next six years.
