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Hundreds show up for first shift on public service picket line in Abbotsford

Workers plan to picket outside Matsqui Institution until a deal is brokered
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Hundreds of union workers represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada were walking the picket line in Abbotsford on April 19. (Jessica Peters/Abbotsford News)

Hundreds of unionized federal workers showed up to the picket line in Abbotsford Wednesday morning, outside Matsqui Institution.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) began strike action after midnight across the country, after talks between the union and the Treasury Board broke down.

PSAC represents 155,000 workers employed at federal prisons, the Canada Revenue Agency, and in immigration and other key federal roles.

The line up to park at Matsqui Institution took hours to file through, filling up King Road from 8 a.m. to nearly noon. The location will be used as a picket line through the duration of the strike, and as of Wednesday, there wasn’t a sense yet of how long that be.

Workers have to show up for four hours per day to be paid (by the union), but some were in it for the long haul.

“We truly hoped we wouldn’t be forced to take strike action, but we’ve exhausted every other avenue to reach a fair contract for Canada’s Federal Public Service workers,” said Chris Aylward, PSAC national president in a press release. “Now more than ever, workers need fair wages, good working conditions and inclusive workplaces. And it’s clear the only way we’ll achieve that is by taking strike action to show the government that workers can’t wait.”

This is already considered to be one of the largest strikes in Canada’s history, and picket lines will be set up in more than 250 locations across the country.

With nearly a third of the entire federal public service workers on strike, Canadians can expect to see slowdowns or a complete shutdown of services nationwide beginning tomorrow, including a complete halt of the tax season; disruptions to employment insurance, immigration, and passport applications; interruptions to supply chains and international trade at ports; and slowdowns at the border with administrative staff on strike.

“As we begin this historic strike, PSAC bargaining teams will remain at the table night and day as they have been for weeks,” Aylward said. “We’re ready to reach a fair deal as soon as the government is ready to come to the table with a fair offer.”

Negotiations between PSAC and Treasury Board began in June 2021, but reached impasse in May 2022.

READ MORE: Federal workers are now on strike, here are the services that may be affected


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Jessica Peters

About the Author: Jessica Peters

I began my career in 1999, covering communities across the Fraser Valley ever since.
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