The president of the largest federal public service union says the government isn’t budging on its contract offer to federal workers that would see a nine per cent wage increase over three years.
Chris Aylward says the government told the union by email Tuesday evening that it would not move from its latest offer, signalling a stalemate in the negotiations.
The strike action has been ongoing across Canada, including at CFB Trenton.
Strike leader Adam Murphy says their group will continue to take action until a deal is done.
“Well, as negotiations continue to go on, eventually things kind of break down, however the negotiation happens,” Murphy tells Quinte News.
“We don’t have the details on that, but basically, we’re going to continue to press the employer until we get a fair deal.”
Murphy talked about some of the reactions they’ve received to their protest since strike action began.
“The reactions are what they are,” Murphy explained.
“Everybody’s different. For the most part, the reaction has been good though,”
Today marks day eight since 155,000 public servants walked off the job to call for higher wages, and work-from-home provisions, among other things.
Treasury Board President Mona Fortier says she wants to reach an agreement quickly, but the government won’t sign a blank cheque that taxpayers can’t afford.
With files from the Canadian Press
