(Ottawa) The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), for its part, will donate $100,000 in grocery gift cards to support striking workers in Quebec's public sector. The FTQ-affiliated union follows in the footsteps of the United Steelworkers Union, which announced the same on Monday.
Posted at 8:12 am
The PSAC's decision was made by the executive branch on Thursday evening. The gift cards will be distributed to needy strikers from the Common Front and the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE). The union notes that the majority are women.
Public sector workers in Quebec have been struggling to make ends meet since the labor dispute began. For example, FAE members do not have a strike fund to compensate for some of the lost salary. Others said they had to go to food banks to get food.
The union representing federal employees hopes to free “certain families” from these impacts. 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 maintain humane conditions,” said AFPC-Québec regional vice-president Yvon Barrière. He added that these employees, who work in the education and health systems, “are the backbone of our society, educating our children and caring for the entire population.”
The United Steelworkers Union, also a member of the FTQ, donated $100,000 in food vouchers to striking public workers on Monday. This was a first for this union, which brings together 60,000 private sector workers.
The general director of the Union of Professional and Office Workers (SEPB-Québec), Pierrick Choinière-Lapointe, then told La Presse that requests for food aid on the picket lines had quadrupled.
He represents daycare teachers, secretaries, student support workers and special education teachers, whose average salary is about $30,000 per year.
About eight out of 10 Common Front union members are women. The proportion of women at FAE is 75%. FAE members are on day 17 of their indefinite general strike.
The PSAC has more than 230,000 members who work primarily in federal agencies and departments.
With Marie-Ève Morasse and Vincent Larin, La Presse