Why the federal worker strike will test Canada’s economy and labour market

For almost a week, Canada’s federal workers have been on strike. The action by the Public Service Alliance of Canada is the largest the country has seen in decades, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Meanwhile, services in many federal departments are reduced to emergency-only levels, as unions and employers across the country watch to see what comes next.

Cormac Mac Sweeney is a Parliament Hill reporter for CityNews. He joins us to discuss why this strike comes at a critical time for both the economy and labour relations, and how inflation, pay scale, return-to-work policies could set a precedent for public and private workers throughout the country.

“A lot of unions tend to try and time their job action to have maximum impact. I mean, that’s the point of a strike, it’s to try and put pressure on the other side,” he said. “The closer we get to busier travel seasons and the tax filing deadline, the more pressure it is going to put on the government and the union to come up with some sort of solution here.”

So what are the issues that need to be resolved here? How long could it go on? And how might it impact your every day life?

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