Strike

[brihard]

Isn't there already some provision for people who speak languages useful to serve communities with concentrations of people who speak those languages?

No

 

[Brad Sallows]

PSAC's bargainers should generalize the provision, then. If it's good for indigenous language speakers to be rewarded for providing services to other indigenous language speakers, the same principle applies to anyone serving a customer base in any language. Special carve-outs have to end.

 

[Spencer100]

From my union town I'm not hearing a ton of sympathy for PSAC this time. The last three years has been a tough one here so not car honks as is case in the past. No polling yet. The interwebs are not too supportive either but that may mean nothing.

The gap between private and public sectors is widening. The pay and benefits gap is growing. What is this translates into will be a big government theme going forward. The WFH thing is a bigger issue

There is the short term political angle Cons vs Liberal/NDP with NDP in full support of PSAC. Liberals trying to triangulate something. The mistrust between parties never higher.

The longer term issues of affordability and value for money in the deficit environment will a big issue.

 

[brihard]

PSAC's bargainers should generalize the provision, then. If it's good for indigenous language speakers to be rewarded for providing services to other indigenous language speakers, the same principle applies to anyone serving a customer base in any language. Special carve-outs have to end.

Sure, maybe? Or at least make it an objective merit critter is for hiring. But the bilingualism bonus is linked to proficiency in both of Canada’s official languages, and being in a designated bilingual position.

I could see proficiency in an aboriginal language being less politically contentious the receiving an allowance for, say, Punjabi or Mandarin.

 

[Brad Sallows]

I could see proficiency in an aboriginal language being less politically contentious the receiving an allowance for, say, Punjabi or Mandarin.

If the people on the two sides of the table are willing to play politics rather than adopt a purely rational approach, I wish them to hell.

 

[brihard]

If the people on the two sides of the table are willing to play politics rather than adopt a purely rational approach, I wish them to hell.

You’d be good with federal government paying an allowance to Mandarin speakers in Vancouver or the GTA then? Fine if you are, I just suspect a lot of people wouldn’t be.

 

[Navy_Pete]

From my union town I'm not hearing a ton of sympathy for PSAC this time. The last three years has been a tough one here so not car honks as is case in the past. No polling yet. The interwebs are not too supportive either but that may mean nothing.

The gap between private and public sectors is widening. The pay and benefits gap is growing. What is this translates into will be a big government theme going forward. The WFH thing is a bigger issue

There is the short term political angle Cons vs Liberal/NDP with NDP in full support of PSAC. Liberals trying to triangulate something. The mistrust between parties never higher.

The longer term issues of affordability and value for money in the deficit environment will a big issue.

Even within the union there seemed to be a lot of eyerolling at the idea of a strike. I suspect if this goes on for a while we will start to see more people that can WFH doing that

 

[SeaKingTacco]

You’d be good with federal government paying an allowance to Mandarin speakers in Vancouver or the GTA then? Fine if you are, I just suspect a lot of people wouldn’t be.

I would be willing to pay for a lot more Mandarin speakers in CSIS, CSE and the RCMP.

Just sayin…

 

[brihard]

I would be willing to pay for a lot more Mandarin speakers in CSIS, CSE and the RCMP.

Just sayin…

Oh man, no kidding. I’m sure what they have isn’t enough.

 

[dapaterson]

Oh man, no kidding. I’m sure what they have isn’t enough.

Are you trying to suggest that Google Translate isn't sufficient for formulating government policy?

 

[Brad Sallows]

Language fluency (for relevant occupations) is probably under-recognized and under-compensated. But goose-gander universal application should be a rule with pretty much no exceptions. If the union wants a virtue-signalling carve-out, I hope they may be on the bricks for four months.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

For years the Rescue Specialists in the CCG asked for some sort of compensation for the extra work we were doing outside the standard job description of Deckhand. But PSAC always tossed our demands away as a bargaining chip to get more for the larger pool of CR's and like. If your a small niche group in a larger union, your often screwed. It was the Fisheries Minister Herb Dwahil who visited us , saw what we were doing and said "This is f*cked" and gave us X days of leave for every year as a RS. I was still carrying that leave when we got punted from DFO to TC and it took my threat of a level 3 grievance to get them to honour it.

 

[Furniture]

For years the Rescue Specialists in the CCG asked for some sort of compensation for the extra work we were doing outside the standard job description of Deckhand. But PSAC always tossed our demands away as a bargaining chip to get more for the larger pool of CR's and like. If your a small niche group in a larger union, your often screwed. It was the Fisheries Minister Herb Dwahil who visited us , saw what we were doing and said "This is f*cked" and gave us X days of leave for every year as a RS. I was still carrying that leave when we got punted from DFO to TC and it took my threat of a level 3 grievance to get them to honour it.

Never underestimate the prevalence of "I don't get it, so neither should they"... I had an MWO that tried to go against the Leave Policy Manual WRT shift worker leave, because if the shift workers used their leave intelligently they got more days off than he did in a year. Never mind they worked a rotating schedule of 2x day 2x evening 2x overnight shifts followed by 3x days off, and didn't get every Friday afternoon, and every admin appointment off.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Unionized workplaces aren't a great environment for go-getters.

 

[Eaglelord17]

Unions can be both a blessing and a curse.

For example the one I am in is full of old guys. They don’t care about the issues the younger guys have because it doesn’t directly benefit them. They voted away many benefits they are grandfathered into and said sucks to be us for the newer employees. Between pension issues, vacation issues, parental leave issues, etc. sucks to try and negotiate with them. The only good news is those guys will soon be the minority and there likely will be a reckoning coming.

 

[Kilted]

We were told tonight that we won't be getting paid for the duration of the strike.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Unions can be both a blessing and a curse.

For example the one I am in is full of old guys. They don’t care about the issues the younger guys have because it doesn’t directly benefit them. They voted away many benefits they are grandfathered into and said sucks to be us for the newer employees. Between pension issues, vacation issues, parental leave issues, etc. sucks to try and negotiate with them. The only good news is those guys will soon be the minority and there likely will be a reckoning coming.

Ah, some of my favourite union stories are the ones where the senior members f*ck over the junior members. There really is no other way to describe it. Solidarity, brothers and sisters. Stronger together. We shall overcome.

 

[ModlrMike]

I appreciate that everyone's costs have increased over time. The average wage increase for unionized Canadians between 2019 and 2022 was 9% (which is what I got over 5 years, after 4 years of nothing). 13% and certainly 22% are obscene.

 

[dimsum]

Never underestimate the prevalence of "I don't get it, so neither should they"... I had an MWO that tried to go against the Leave Policy Manual WRT shift worker leave, because if the shift workers used their leave intelligently they got more days off than he did in a year. Never mind they worked a rotating schedule of 2x day 2x evening 2x overnight shifts followed by 3x days off, and didn't get every Friday afternoon, and every admin appointment off.

I hope that MWO got told to pound copious amounts of sand.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Never underestimate the prevalence of "I don't get it, so neither should they"... I had an MWO that tried to go against the Leave Policy Manual WRT shift worker leave, because if the shift workers used their leave intelligently they got more days off than he did in a year. Never mind they worked a rotating schedule of 2x day 2x evening 2x overnight shifts followed by 3x days off, and didn't get every Friday afternoon, and every admin appointment off.

It never ceases to amaze me when I see a Snr NCM or Officer just make up their own rules and regulations.

Many of us have a completely out of touch understanding of our responsibility, capability and importance.