Walk for respect!
After one year of negotiations the federal government is still offering wage increases that are below the rate of inflation.
June 19 Day of Action: March for Respect
About 3000 PSAC members answered the call June 19, thronging Treasury Board headquarters in Ottawa in a show of force to let the government know what they think about its insulting wage offer.
Chanting “power to the people” and waving signs emblazoned with the word “Respect,” members from all over the National Capital Region choked a downtown Ottawa street to hear National President John Gordon and National Vice-President Patty Ducharme speak out against the government's wage offer.
Gordon expressed the frustration of the membership at the lack of progress after one year of bargaining. “If this is how we are treated at the bargaining table, what can we expect in the workplace?”
Gordon vowed that the government will get the fight it is looking for. “We want a fair and decent contract and, brothers and sisters, we are not going to stop until we get it.”
Ducharme said the government's pitiful wage offer makes a mockery of its observance of Public Service Week celebrations and warned the government that the PSAC “is a strong and powerful union” that will not stop in its pursuit of a fair contract for its members.
In a show of solidarity, the Canadian Union of Public Employees National President Paul Moist and Canadian Labour Congress President Ken Georgetti also addressed the crowd and pledged their support for the PSAC's fight for a fair contract.
The NCR region's “March for Respect” was just one of many actions that took place across the country June 19. From St. John's to Vancouver, thousands of PSAC members marched to demonstrate support for their bargaining teams and to demand respect and a fair wage offer.
Large PSAC demonstration downtown Ottawa, video.
Regional events
Date Modified : 2010/07/29
