The labor dispute between Canadian Armed Forces employees working on military bases and their employer is dragging on, even though they have been on strike for five weeks.
These civilian employees are demanding better working conditions and have been picketing from one end of the country to the other for 42 days.
The services they provide to military members, veterans and their families are therefore affected by the labor dispute.
Several of these officers are kinesiologists and assist the military with their physical conditioning.
Last December, these union members passed a strike mandate with more than 94% of the vote before entering an indefinite general strike on January 15th.
This labor dispute, overshadowed by the strike movement that is rocking the public service in Quebec, aims to force the employer to provide the same working conditions as other Canadian civil servants.
“TVA News”
For example, a kinesiologist's salary at Bagotville Military Base ranges from $16 to $26 per hour.
Noting that these workers must have a bachelor's degree to keep their positions, a union representative is calling for better salaries while criticizing the employer's stance.
“What is happening is that the Canadian army is using soldiers as strikebreakers. It is the entire population of Canada and Quebec whose money is being used to call off a strike to keep civilians like us serving in the Canadian Armed Forces in deplorable conditions,” supports Derek Belley, president of the local St-Jean, PSAC- Quebec.
“People don’t have any money. Taxes are used to pay soldiers who break the strike. It is truly shameful for the Canadian Army and Justin Trudeau’s government to allow this decree to remain in place.”
“TVA News”
A kinesiologist working in a CHSLD in Quebec may be entitled to compensation between $26 and $43 per hour.
Insulted, the strikers say they are being discriminated against.
“Currently I work at $20.44 an hour. If we look at the city in Saint-Jean,[sur-Richelieu]it starts at $35 to $40 [l’heure]», raises an employee.
“Extremely disappointed. They treat us like ordinary civil servants,” complains a man in front of the Royal Military College of Saint-Jean.