More than 155,000 federal civil servants walked off the job today after failing to reach a deal with their employer.
This includes about 3,000 employees working in agriculture-related positions with the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
PSCA said about 120,000 government workers are Treasury Board employees in programs and administrative services, operational services, technical services and education and library science. The remainder work for Canada Revenue Agency.
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
The workers have been without a contract since June 2021.
Milton Dyck, national president of the PSAC Agriculture Union, said essential workers who take care of livestock and handle payroll would be exempt from the walkout.
“For the most part, everybody will be out on the picket line for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,” he said.
This includes employees who work in the areas of business risk management programs such as AgriInvest and AgriStability, agri-environmental programs, the Canadian Agricultural Loans Program, the Canadian Dairy Commission and the Canadian Grain Commission.
“We would no longer be doing outward inspections at the shipping ports,” Dyck said.
The CGC said before the strike began it was working on contingency plans to ensure inspections and exports could continue.
Agriculture Canada said the Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program, Wine Sector Support Program, Youth Employment and Skills Program and federal programs under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership could be impacted and the contact centre disrupted.
“AAFC will prioritize its essential services to ensure minimal disruptions in those areas,” the department said in an email.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency workers are not part of the job action because they haven’t yet voted and aren’t likely to do so for a while. That bargaining unit is likely headed to mediation.
Dyck said union members don’t want to see federal agricultural research programs affected, but that might be a consequence of the strike.
“We’re very proud of the work we do but we feel that we need to be valued as well,” he said. “We’ve been on the worksites the whole time. We haven’t slowed down and haven’t stopped all through the pandemic and we felt that we’ve really pulled through.”
AAFC said it has designated essential workers in scientific areas, such as greenhouse operations, labs and the field.
Contact karen.briere@producer.com
