Service below expectations
No, I don’t agree with the officials’ claims, on almost everything! The services they provide are already below the expected results!
Ghislaine Deshaies, Mercier
immoral
For me, this strike is immoral. I blame the unions as much as Prime Minister Trudeau. The conditions of federal civil servants are the highest of all taxpayers. We must take into account their benefits, including an advantageous pension plan, strong job security and others. And although the Trudeau government has substantially increased their number, the services are deficient, they have no accountability.
Marcel Fafard
Agreement expired
I completely agree with the officials. Their collective agreement expired two years ago. This negotiation should have been settled when the agreement expired. The government needs to take inflation into account in the current salary increase.
Alyne Guillemette
Exaggeration
For telework, this is not a problem if it does not have the effect of reducing productivity. For wages, I believe there is exaggeration on the part of the union.
Bertrand Harvey
Better paid than provincial
The managers should have foreseen the blow and settled the terms of the agreement before the current strike broke out. The timing is good for them, but the population is fed up since the federal civil servants have not shone by their efficiency in several files, in particular with the passports. In such a context, we cannot support these federal civil servants who are asking for indecent salary increases, especially since they are already much better paid than at the provincial level.
Mary Dallaire
Golden Retirement Plans
No I do not agree. They have golden retirement plans. In the private sector, we have seen our defined benefit pension plans changed to defined contribution plans and health insurance plans cut at age 65. I believe my wallet has a limit and the tax we have paid and are still paying should be maximized. When will performance/productivity measures be taken to justify salary increases?
Sylvie Bergeron
No need to wait for support from Canadians
Federal public servants have never had the support of the Canadian public and never will. It’s human nature to break sugar on the backs of federal public servants. They must therefore not wait for the support of Canadians to assert their rights. This is what they are doing now and they are within their rights. However, having been a federal public servant myself throughout my professional career, our working conditions have always been and remain superior to those of the average Canadian. The employer’s offer is reasonable and should be accepted.
Marcel Morin, Gatineau
Let the feds take advantage before they change their minds
I agree with the officials. Moreover, they are asking for a salary increase below the rate of inflation, which constitutes a drop in the real salary. I do not know many employees who ask for an impoverishment of their salary conditions! Let the feds take advantage of this before they change their minds!
Jacques Lapointe
Excessive demands
Sorry for you, dear federal officials, but you won’t get my sympathy. With your very advantageous salaries and conditions, I find your demands excessive.
Ginette Girard
Privileged
I was a civil servant for 35 years, I can understand the frustration of my former colleagues. During my active time in government, I thought that we were not treated so well by our employer. When I retired young, at 53, I worked in the private sector for 10 years and then I realized what a privilege it was to work as a civil servant (job security, sick leave, family leave, group insurance , luxury pension indexed to the cost of living). My former colleagues will, like me, realize how privileged we are to have such protection.
Pierre Gingras
Carelessness on the part of the employer
Unable to negotiate a work contract for three years, I can’t believe it. What carelessness on the part of the employer. What did he expect? The current result, this strike, clearly demonstrates the federal government’s lack of vision, planning and lack of respect for its human resources. The message to Canadians young and old is simple: Confrontation is the way to go.
Luc Nadon
Taxpayers are tired of paying
The claims of federal officials are exaggerated. They have much better working conditions than the vast majority of Canadian workers. I also doubt their performance with telecommuting. If I was the boss, it would be back in the office five days a week. That’s what they get paid for and the unhappy just have to find another job. Taxpayers are tired of paying.
Claude Gilbert
ask for the moon
You can always ask for the moon and some meteorites and that’s what the unions usually do. In this case, the public employer has, among other things, three obligations: it must set an example by negotiating clauses guaranteeing a fair, equitable and non-discriminatory work environment. His second obligation, which can sometimes be in conflict with the first, is to grant conditions that place him among the good employers, not necessarily the best. And finally, its third is to make sure to protect the management rights, including where the work is done, which it needs to provide quality service. Beyond these questions, what is deplorable is that we are still in the old dynamic of labor relations with an agreement that expired 18 months ago.
– Guy Gauthier, Laval