At military bases in Ontario and Quebec, nearly 500 civilian employees are on the picket line, their union says, after negotiations with their employer broke down last week.
The strike affects workers at the Montreal St-Jean, Kingston, Petawawa, Valcartier and Bagotville bases— along with other employees whose occupations are in Ottawa — who gives programs through Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS).
According to the Union of National Defense Employees, they offer many supportive roles for Canada’s military members, both on and off base. They work in fields like food service and recreation, along with offering support services like financial planning and support with life and disability insurance.
In Ontario, roughly 140 workers at CFB Kingston and another 140 at Garrison Petawawa will be on strike soon, the union said, along with about 70 employees in the nation’s capital.
It’s absolutely critical work, says June Winger, national president for the union, which is a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).
The military have their own family and their own way of life, really, on these bases. And without those employees there to help them with that, there is no other way which they could actually function.
June Winger, president of the Union of National Defense Employees, says the pay discrepancies between the civilian base workers and other members of the federal public service are doing similar work which don’t make sense.
The staff involved in the strike are with the Non-Public Funds (NPF) group, which runs CFMWS.
It’s a separate agency from the Department of National Defense. While their workers are considered part of the federal public service, the union says they’re not covered under the Public Service Employment Act and are paid different wages that someone else in the public service doing a similar job.
In a press release, the union said it was pushing for an equitable national pay scale, noting there are large wage discrepancies for workers doing the same job across the country.
According to the press release, NPF shipping and receiving clerks at Petawawa make $17.19 an hour, less than one dollar above minimum wage and 54 per cent less than public service workers doing similar work in the core public service.
It just doesn’t make any sense, said Winger.
We don’t do that for any of the national defense employees and we definitely don’t do that to any of our Canadian Armed Forces members. I really don’t understand why they think that this is reasonable to do this in Canada with our lowest-paid public servants.
The union said, picket lines will be set up soon in public areas in front of the bases and offices where workers are on strike.
In a statement to CBC, CFMWS said it regrets because they couldn’t reach a deal with the union.
We remain open to further discussions to reach an agreement as needed and we remain dedicated to a swift and positive outcome for all parties involved,” said Ian Poulter, the CEO for CFMWS. We are also steadfast in our commitment to our Canadian Armed Forces communities and hope to lessen any disruptions to services as much as possible.
Poulter’s statement also said CFMWS was ready for strike action and that services will be available through contingency plans where applicable.
The CFMWS has not yet mentioned who exactly would be doing contingency work, even though a media representative said that they would see into it.
Winger said, the union is also alleging CFMWS chose not to support PSAC in continuing workers’ benefits while they’re on strike, including maternity leave top-ups — a normal practice in the core public service.
This is such a disgraceful position for government to take on their own members when they’re wanting to have health-care benefits for everybody across the country, she said.
