Civil servants asking for 18% wage hike over three years

Ken Johnston
Editor

Sherri Pirkl and Margaret Dubé of Rainy River both have been busy walking the picket lines the past two weeks.
As members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), they went on strike along with 45,000 other civil servants. Pirkl who works as a Government Information Center employee funded by the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines said that they have not received any raises in pay since 1992. “We are asking for 6% each of the next three years. That will catch us up to the cost of living,” she said.
Dubé who works seasonally at the Ontario Travel Information under the Ministry of Tourism, Recreation and Culture said that the government has been seriously looking at other options for the local tourism center. She noted that one east of Rainy River is testing out privatized partnering to run it.
In a leaflet distributed on the picket line last Tuesday in Rainy River, OPSEU said there are three things the strike is fundamentally about. Number one is end of contracting out of government services. The second is improved wages that keep pace with inflation. The final one is the rejection of employer take-always. OPSEU said that the provincial government is proposing $13 million in cuts to benefits and to take away the employees rights to use pension surplus money as they wish.
While strikers are only getting $120 per week in strike pay, Pirkl said most employees are sticking to the picket lines. They will get a slight increase in strike pay if the strike continues into a third week. Pirkl said she is hearing estimates that the strike action will last for about 8-12 weeks and perhaps longer.