Striking CDN Diplomats

From the Globe and Mail:
"Canadian diplomats in 12 countries walk off the job"

Diplomats stationed at 12 Canadian missions abroad walked off the job on Thursday in the most significant escalation since foreign service officers began a work-to-rule campaign earlier this year.

Some of Canada’s largest foreign missions are among those targeted by the job action, including missions in London, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong. Immigration officers in some of Canada’s largest processing centres in China and India also walked off the job on Thursday.  The move is the largest withdrawal of services by members of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers since the union declared it was in a legal strike position this spring. PAFSO says its members are paid substantially less than other public servants who do similar jobs but remain in Canada, and had previously been escalating job actions in an effort to force the federal government back to the bargaining table. He called the decision to withdraw services at 12 missions abroad a “major escalation.” He said that future job actions will target the government’s priority international files, multiple missions and all travel abroad by Canadian ministers – including Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s upcoming trip to Europe for the G8 summit next week. The union says its 1,350 members are paid between $3,000 and $14,000 less than government employees who do similar work but remain in Canada, and is asking for changes to the Treasury Board’s pay scales for diplomats to bring them up to the same level. For example, foreign service officers and commerce officers are paid at significantly different levels, even if they are working on the same set of trade negotiations, Mr. Edwards said. An experienced foreign service officer on the ‘level 2’ pay scale currently makes about $83,000, a figure that would increase to about $87,000 if the union accepts the current Treasury Board offer. That would still be about $11,000 less than the current salary for employees at the same level in the commerce division, who make about $98,000.

^ I don't think that ANY Government worker (whether in Canada, the US, UK, Germany, etc) should be allowed to strike. I understand that they want more rights, pay, etc, but they are making their country look bad as well as affecting ordinary Canadian citizens. ^

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadian-diplomats-in-12-countries-walk-off-the-job/article12380040/