'People hate us’: Striking public servants know they don’t have the hearts and minds of Canadians (2024)

Blame it on —the cold perhaps, but the mood at the three downtown Ottawa picket lines seemed muted Wednesday, the first day of the strike by Public Service Alliance of Canada workers, as though many of their hearts weren’t entirely in it.

Marchers circumnavigating the front lawn of Parliament Hill toted signs with such messages as “Fortier around and find out!”, “I’d throw eggs but I can’t afford them” and “2% is for milk,” occasionally breaking into a “What do we want?” chant. Others simply stood around in small groups, talking with one another or warming themselves by the Centennial Flame. Still, others brought their dogs with them for their strike-mandated four-hour tour.

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One picket, motioning to the circling protest, asked a colleague, “So, do you want to walk or go for a coffee?”

“We can walk,” the other replied.

It was hardly the kind of group energy and enthusiasm one often associates with such labour actions. While some organizers wore vests emblazoned with the word “solidarity,” the feeling wasn’t all that palpable.

The picket “line” at the James Michael Flaherty Building at 90 Elgin St., meanwhile, more resembled a picket cluster, with hundreds of strikers milling about as Queen’s We Will Rock You blared from a sound system. The crowd now and then let loose with cheers when passing motorists honked their support.

In between and elsewhere in the area, pickets — not that you could tell for sure if you didn’t ask — wandered over to nearby coffee shops, or sat on Sparks Street or Confederation Park benches, watching, kibitzing and checking their phones.

This is not to say there weren’t numerous workers who ardently support the cause, people who feel that the government should at least match cost-of-living increases — the Consumer Price Index was up 4.3 per cent from March 2022 to 2023 — and that the strike they’re undertaking, if successful, will lead to similar improvements for the workforce in general.

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But many recognize that they’ll have to fight their battle without much public support.

“People hate us,’ one picket said, around the time a passing motorist rolled down his window and shouted “Get back to work, people!”

I asked another what he thought it would take to win the hearts and minds of the public, and he replied, “It’s unachievable.

“Maybe I should unplug from social media, but of all the comments I read everywhere, it’s always disdainful and negative,” he added. “They don’t understand the concept of what a strike means, so, yeah, it’s mostly negative. I don’t think that that’ll ever change. And I’m fine with that.”

Clearly, the union hasn’t resigned itself to such fate in public opinion polls, otherwise, those advertisem*nts on social media appealing to all Canadians would be a giant waste of cash.

Picketer Samantha Basha says that public support is really important. “When we do get met with any anger or frustration or lack of understanding, I try to combat it with factual information,” she says. “The fact that it’s not us versus them. And that all of us, all Canadians right now, unless you’re making six figures on Parliament Hill, all of us are struggling. And so I try not to make it about being a competition. When federal public servants get the wages we deserve, that sets a precedent for private industry, too.

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“When we do better, all Canadians do better.”

That presumed trickle-down benefit was oft-repeated by other strikers. Diane Girouard, with the union of Health and Environment workers, says she understands that the raise PSAC is seeking — 13.5 per cent over three years for Treasury Board workers and 20.5 per cent over the same period for Canada Revenue Agency workers — “gets on the nerves of some citizens.” But she’s confident the union has the support of “most” citizens.

Maybe, but notwithstanding the honking motorists, that largely wasn’t the feeling I got while speaking with non-PSAC citizens downtown.

“I don’t think the public is really going to be on the side of the public servants who are striking right now,” one retired federal worker told me. “I think the public considers that public servants are pretty spoiled and have had an easier time compared to the private sector workers for the last couple of years. I think their demands are too much.”

“Everybody’s gone through a hard time, right?” added another. “I think it’s really lousy of them to be going on strike before income tax season, so I’m just not very sympathetic.”

Perhaps winning the public’s support isn’t necessary, but without it, PSAC will have a far more difficult time winning this battle.

PHOTOS

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