Skip to content

Federal PSAC public service union workers hit the picket line in Chilliwack

The Public Service Alliance of Canada has fair wages atop its list of demands as job action begins
32498403_web1_230421-CPL-PSACJobAction_2
Public Service Alliance of Canada member Shaun Brums holds a sign calling for fair wages as he mans a picket line in the Canada Education Park on Friday, April 21, 2023. (Eric J. Welsh/ Chilliwack Progress)

Organizers expect more than 100 picketers at the Chilliwack’s Canada Education Park Monday morning (April 24) as the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) ramps up job action across the country.

A small group was out Friday (April 21), holding signs and accepting honks of support from passing cars on Dieppe Street, just off of Keith Wilson Road. PSAC is bargaining on behalf of people who work for the federal Treasury Board of Canada.

“We’re out here fighting for our rights,” said Imran Hudani, an admin worker with the RCMP. “This is our first time here in Chilliwack, but we’ve been at the Kent Institution and the Matsqui Institution, and a couple others in Great Vancouver, and there’ve been hundreds of people.”

PSAC membership includes 35,000 people with the Canada Revenue Agency. The union represents 8,627 administrative employees with the Canada Border Services Agency and thousands more whose job it is to keep federal buildings and services from grinding to a halt.

The union claims to represent nearly a third of all federal public service workers. According to the PSAC website, the nationwide strike that officially began Wednesday will impact the tax season, cause disruptions to employment insurance, immigration, and passport applications, lead to interruptions of supply chains and international trade at ports, and create slowdowns at the border.

“Altogether there’s about 150,000 of us across Canada and we’re doing what we can to show the government that we care about our jobs, but we need some help and some support,” Hudani said.

RELATED: PSAC says strike will begin Wednesday if no deal reached with federal government

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


@ProgressSports
eric.welsh@theprogress.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.



Eric Welsh

About the Author: Eric Welsh

I joined the Chilliwack Progress in 2007, originally hired as a sports reporter.
Read more