After the Steelworkers union, it is the turn of Unifor, the Machinists’ union and the Public Service Alliance of Canada to make a donation to the public sector strikers.
Although donations and loans between private sector unions are common, during strikes or lockouts, it is rarer to see private sector unions, as is the case here with the Steelworkers, Unifor and the Machinists’ Union, come to the aid of their colleagues in the public sector.
Unifor’s Quebec director, Daniel Cloutier, announced Friday that his large union, which is affiliated with the FTQ, would give $72,000 in grocery gift cards to public sector strikers.
Alongside him, David Chartrand, general vice-president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) — better known as the Machinists’ Union — also offered a check for $65,000 to the strikers .
MM. Cloutier and Chartrand went to the edge of the strike pickets of the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), the independent union organization which represents 66,000 teachers at the primary and secondary levels. They have been on indefinite strike for more than three weeks, since November 23.
“It’s a historic battle,” Mr. Chartrand told the FAE picketers. “You take care of our children; We will take care of you. »
“It’s a small gesture, perhaps, but it’s our way of saying ‘you’re not alone; we won’t let you go,'” said Mr. Cloutier, from Unifor.
Mr. Cloutier also stressed that Unifor’s campaign for public sector strikers will not stop there and that the large union will continue to solicit donations from its members.
The movement was launched last Monday by another large union affiliated with the FTQ, that of the Steelworkers. He then announced a donation of $100,000 in the form of grocery gift cards. These are distributed to the strikers who are most in need. Distribution is done on a local basis, the union said.
To these three large private sector unions, all affiliated with the FTQ — which is part of the Inter-union Common Front — is now added the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) — which is also affiliated with the FTQ in Quebec, but which is part of the federal public sector.
The PSAC announced a donation of $100,000 to support Common Front and FAE strikers “in their fight to obtain fair and equitable working conditions.”
The large pan-Canadian union of federal civil servants itself experienced a strike last spring.
“The strike is crucial for their future. However, in the immediate future, we hope that this donation in the form of grocery store gift cards will help relieve certain families from the repercussions of current actions,” explains the Alliance, in a press release to announce its donation.