(Ottawa) The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) will in turn donate $100,000 in grocery gift cards to support striking workers in the Quebec public sector. The union, affiliated with the FTQ, follows in the footsteps of the United Steelworkers Union which announced the same thing on Monday.
The PSAC’s decision was made by the executive Thursday evening. The gift cards will be given to strikers from the Common Front and the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) in need. The union notes that the majority are women.
Quebec public sector employees have been struggling to make ends meet since the start of the labor dispute. For example, FAE members do not have a strike fund to compensate for part of the lost salary. Others said they had to go to food banks to get food.
The union that represents federal civil servants hopes to “relieve certain families” of these repercussions. He believes that the current strike is “crucial for their future”.
“We hope that this gesture of union solidarity will support certain strikers and their families who are making this sacrifice to obtain decent conditions,” declared the regional executive vice-president of AFPC-Québec, Yvon Barrière. He added that these employees who work in the education and health systems “are the backbone of our society by educating our children and caring for the entire population.”
The United Steelworkers Union, also affiliated with the FTQ, donated $100,000 on Monday in the form of grocery gift cards to public sector workers on strike. This was a first for this union which brings together 60,000 workers in the private sector.
The general director of the Union of Professional and Office Employees (SEPB-Québec), Pierrick Choinière-Lapointe, then told The Press that requests for food aid on picket lines had quadrupled.
It represents daycare educators, secretaries, student supervisors, special education technicians, whose average salary is around $30,000 per year.
About eight out of ten Common Front union members are women. Among FAE teachers, the proportion of women is 75%. FAE members are in their 17th yeare day of unlimited general strike.
The PSAC has more than 230,000 members who work in particular in federal agencies and departments.
With Marie-Ève Morasse and Vincent Larin, The Press