The Largest Strike In Canadian History Is Being Threatened & These Services Could Be Affected

One of Canada's largest unions has voted in favour of a strike action, which means, if it goes through, Canada could see one of the biggest strikes against one employer in its history.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) announced on April 12 that they have received enough votes from their affiliated members to mandate a strike.

According to PSAC, this motion was voted on by workers in the Program and Administrative Services, Operational Services, Technical Services, and Education and Library Science bargaining groups at the treasury, which could potentially mean a strike of 120,000 workers all employed by the Treasury Board of Canada.

But what does that mean for the average Canadian?

Well, if a strike action were to take place, huge swaths of government services would be affected.

The Treasury Board of Canada, the organization these employees work for, is a part of the public administration, meaning its operations is integral to much of the government of Canada's daily functions.

The types of jobs that fall under this strikes umbrella include "cleaners and cooks on military bases, clerks and maintenance workers, tradespeople, Coast Guard search and rescue teams, teachers, firefighters and the people Canadians rely on to help process employment insurance, passport applications and immigration documents."

Services across the public sector could see partial or full disruption, processing delays or the outright stoppage of services.

Some departments that may experience disruption include Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship, Health Canada, Transport Canada, Veterans Affairs and many more.

So yes, that means we could once again see delays to passport services in Canada.

As a guide, the Government of Canada has laid out some of the services that will and will not be disrupted by potential labour action.

Some of the essential services offered to Canadians that will not disappear, include a swath of RCMP, Health Canada, Fisheries and Oceans and other major, necessary department services, but "there may be a reduction in overall administration capacity."

However, if the union's demands for higher wages in the wake of the recent rise of inflation are met, all of this could be avoided.

This isn't the only major public service strike that could take place.

Just last week, the union representing 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency employees voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike, which could potentially see disruptions and delays as Canada's tax time approaches.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.