Foreign service officers walk off the job

Association trying to pressure Treasury Board back to bargaining table: PAFSO

Canada’s foreign service workers have walked off the job.

The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) said it is withdrawing services “effective immediately” in a number of international locations and at headquarters in Ottawa.

The interruption of services will take place at the following locations:

• London (immigration section)

• Buenos Aires

•Santiago

•Ottawa (International Economic Relations & Summits Division, Treaty Law Division, North America Bureau, North America Policy & Relations Division, Director General for Africa, Eastern & Southern Africa Relations Division. )

The workers are in a legal strike position, and PAFSO said it will be “maintaining pressure on the government headquarters until Treasury Board returns to the negotiating table for a substantive and genuine discussions.”

The announcement, made on May 21, is the next step in a series of co-ordinated activities taking place, including information pickets held in Ottawa, Washington, D.C., London and Mexico City.

PAFSO members are also in the midst of a work-to-rule campaign both at headquarters and at foreign posts, it said.

The primary issue is money in the form of equal pay for equal work, according to PAFSO. Specifically, the union is seeking wage adjustments to keep foreign service officer pay in line with comparable occupational groups.

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