Nice work if you can get it.
Only in Canada can you go on strike indefinitely and still get paid indefinitely. I wonder if they’re hiring…
Federal workers went on strike in Ottawa, shutting down key services across the nation. Ports have almost grounded to a halt. Canadians can’t get their federal documents processed. Economies are being damaged of this. But hey, the wallets of the strikers are as full as ever.
The strike is entering its second week with no sign of winding down. Trudeau’s government hasn’t put much effort into negotiations. The payroll program is automatic, outdated, and tough to adjust. So therefore, the government just threw up their hands. Almost all strikers are still receiving their full pay. Why end it, like ever, if you were them?
And bizarrely, if you show up to picket, you can get an additional strike pay. There’s a somewhat reasonable law put in place that during a strike, you still get a small percentage of your regular pay (but not both). Clearly, in Canada, it pays to strike.
Altogether, 100,000 workers are on strike. Now the government has a right to revoke the regular pay in the future, but don’t expect them to actually do that. One of the reasons for the continued payment, in addition to the computer program being a headache, is that these changes have to be rubber stamped, snaking a maze of government bureaucracy that could take months, if possible at all.
Long story short, there are too many backchannels to have to go through to make any payroll adjustments, and Trudeau just decided to throw up his hands instead.
It’s funny. Trudeau was able to gauge the bank accounts of regular citizens supporting the patriotic Freedom Convoy. He was also able to seize the GoFundMe for the truckers. So if you’re a private citizen, pay adjustment is no problem. Even though they’re not on the government doll.
But if you actually work for the government, and choose not to do your job, and the nation shuts down around you, that’s all good. Because it’s just too complicated, man.
So what do the workers actually want? Initially, a 33% pay raise in three years. That’s a 10% raise in three years. A jump in pay like that hasn’t happened for federal Canadian workers before. They since winnowed their request to have that, with about a 5% increase each year. How generous.
With no end in sight, expect Canadians to get frustrated at Prime Minister Trudeau. And this is after he’s bungled questions on Chinese interference in the last election. He may even get ousted as the hard left New Democratic Party bands together with the Conservatives. For the sake of Canada, let’s hope Trudeau gets the boot.
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