About 500 civilians working for the Non-Public Funds (NPF) on military bases in Ontario and Quebec planned to walk out on Monday.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Union of National Defense Employees (UNDE) provided the employer with strike notice earlier this week. The two union organizations affirm that the employer refused “to make an effort” to resolve the main points of dispute.
The main demands presented by the union concern salaries, in particular a pan-Canadian salary scale. In a press release, the PSAC indicates that these are the lowest paid workers in the federal public service.
“People who work for the Non-Public Funds provide essential support to military personnel and their families, but they earn little more than minimum wage and often have to find a second job to make ends meet,” said by channel PSAC National President Chris Aylward said.
NPF members are part of the public service, the PSAC continues, but they are “significantly underpaid compared to other federal civil servants who do the same type of work. »
For example, fitness and sports instructors at the Bagotville base, located in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, earn 62% less than their counterparts at the Treasury Board, maintains the PSAC. She adds that accounting clerks at the Valcartier base earn almost $10 per hour less than those who do the same work for the NPF in Ottawa, which represents a difference of 31%.
The union deplores that no progress has been made in relation to the adoption of a single salary scale for the staff of the Non-Public Funds, “whose salary varies enormously from one military base to another” .
He emphasizes that the pan-Canadian salary scale is particularly important for equity, since it would ensure that all people who do the same work have the same salary.
The PSAC has announced that the members’ benefits plan has been suspended as well as supplementary benefits paid to people on maternity leave. The union says it has meanwhile found another benefit plan for striking members.
“The employer is abandoning the most marginalized workers by eliminating their benefits. This is hypocrisy for a government that boasts of being feminist, denounced June Winger, national president of the UNDE, in a press release. […] Clearly, the Department of National Defense still has work to do to create an inclusive and diverse workplace. »