Foreign service officers begin walkouts across the globe - Action News
Home WebMail Saturday, November 23, 2024, 06:23 PM | Calgary | -11.4°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Ottawa

Foreign service officers begin walkouts across the globe

Canada's foreign service officers are walking off the job to protest stalled contract talks, starting with an exodus today from the headquarters for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa.

About 400 employees at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa walked off the job at 2 p.m. Thursday, as part of aglobal protest of Canadian foreign service workers over stalled contract talks.

The exodus today from the Pearson Building, headquarters for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa, was the first ofseveralrotating walkouts involving personnel at 13 missions abroad. Workers left the offices at 125 Sussex Dr. and went home.

The 1,350-member Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers has been without a contract since mid-2011. The unionhas been in a legal strike position since April.

The union wants the Treasury Board to go back to the bargaining table to address a core grievance: that its members are paid $10,000 to $14,000 a year less than their counterparts who do similar work in other federal departments.

While essential workers will remain on the job, the walkouts could affect processing of immigration applications.

With files from the Canadian Press