PSAC escalates strike action in Ottawa area on day 9
CTV
Striking federal public servants escalated actions on picket lines across the national capital region on Thursday, limiting access to federal buildings and temporarily disrupting traffic on an interprovincial bridge.
Striking federal public servants escalated actions on picket lines across the national capital region on Thursday, limiting access to federal buildings and temporarily disrupting traffic on an interprovincial bridge.
This is day 9 of the strike by 155,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, affecting services under the Treasury Board and the Canada Revenue Agency.
"We are escalating actions; we are escalating picket line postures here in the NCR and across the country," Alex Silas, PSAC regional executive vice-president for the national capital region, said on in a video on Facebook.
Silas says PSAC workers have "shut down" the main building at Tunney's Pasture and "we are controlling entry" by public service workers.
The city of Ottawa's traffic account reported temporary disruptions in the area of the Portage Bridge, connecting Ottawa and Gatineau over the Ottawa River. City of Ottawa traffic cameras showed people marching across the bridge, with traffic stopped on both sides of the river.
In Quebec, striking federal public servants held a demonstration near the Lacolle border crossing in the Montérégie region. A few buses carrying dozens of protesters arrived at the border crossing between Lacolle, Canada, and Champlain, New York, in the United States, usually one of the busiest in the country.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada launched strike action on April 19 to back demands for a new contract. The union is accusing the federal government of stalling in negotiations.
