strike question... one last time

Canada Immigration Forum (discussion group)


 
       
Subject: strike question... one last time
  workers that do police clearances MAY have been behind a picket line for perhaps 3-4 days back in early October. At the most it was a week. It makes for a great easy answer why you are waiting longer than you think is reasonable.

Since early October, there has not been any job action. Everyone is working. They MAY be working ´to the letter´ of their contract but there is absolutely no way to confirm that. It is just a inference picked up from their union website.

Any strike action is generally targeted at goverment departments that can bring public opinion to their assistance, such as pension cheques, income tax refunds, national parks etc.(they put the national parks behind picket lines on a summer long weekend.) Disruptions to Immigration service gets no national press (I know...it is the centre of our universe) so the union is very unlikely to waste manpower. Also, I am almost 90% sure that foreign embassy staff (immigration officers) are not part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada and would not find themselves behind a picket line in any case.

So...as I have said to Ozz, let´s stop this vortex of anxiety about Immigration being on strike. They are slow because they are slow! Every CIC document I read says ´times are approximate´. I cannot assume if Ozz takes 35 days to get a document that I can use the exact same numbers. Guys...I know waiting is endless and we all need something to hang on to, but we will go insane if we try to create an exact science out of Immigration processes. It will never happen.






[08-11-2004,23:33]
sharon
How do you explain...??? (in reply to: strike question... one last time)
When I spoke to the Immigration Officer that is what she said...WE WERE ON STRIkE THE LAST MONTH...that is why we have a backlog of work. How do you explain this answer??Do you think she lied me?? As far as I remeber I do not take drugs to hallucinate this situations...
[09-11-2004,06:04]
Luis
no drugs (in reply to: strike question... one last time)
you are right... they were on strike in October. 3-4 days...perhaps a week. I am sure it put them behind. But only 3-4 days - let´s say a week.
[09-11-2004,12:38]
sharon
(in reply to: strike question... one last time)
Sharon,

Thanks for providing information, but please, please, please, tell us which sources support your postings.

For example, when you affirm that the strike in October lasted no more than a week, how do you know this? Please tell us if what you suggest in your posting is your personal opinion/assesment or something you learned in the news or some web site or some person who works for CIC.

Thanks Sharon!

[09-11-2004,12:57]
ozz
(in reply to: strike question... one last time)
http://www.psac.com/news/releases/2004/99-121004-e.shtml
http://www.psac.com/news/releases/2004/103-131004-e.shtml
http://www.psac.com/news/releases/2004/106-151004-e.shtml

the first press release announces the strike. the next 2 discuss a final offer that has yet to be accepted by the union. Notice the dates. The union is recommending that the membership not accept it. That vote will happen mid December. If you Google PSAC you will find that in previous stikes... they have never lasted more than 2-3 weeks before the goverment has ordered them back to work.

Ozz, somehow you do not think I would offer credible information about this subject. If I don´t know...I will say so. I live in Canada, and live with Canadian events - including strikes. I read the newspaper (in fact- 2), and I function in a business environment. It is rather difficult for me to miss the ramifications of PSAC job action. At the time, it was a daily news item. They will not even discuss it in the news again until sometime in December after the vote. You want evidence and proof...let it go already.


[09-11-2004,13:44]
sharon
just in case you still do not believe me (in reply to: strike question... one last time)
direct from the PSAC website

Why did you suspend the general strike on October 15th?

The decision to take down the picket lines on October 15 was a very difficult one to make. We could have remained on a general strike and cost more than 90,000 members an additional day´s pay, allowing the government to save millions of dollars. Knowing that the employer had no intention of increasing their offer, we made the decision to call off the general strike at Tables 1 and 3, and to continue with some strategic strike action while the employer prepared its final offer and presented it to the PSAC negotiating teams.




[09-11-2004,13:49]
sharon
(in reply to: strike question... one last time)
Sharon, Thank your very much!!! That´s what I wanted to see.

Thanks a lot!

[09-11-2004,15:21]
ozz
(in reply to: strike question... one last time)
Sharon,

I´m sorry, but the information you provided is hard for me to digest.

1. IN the first link, namely http://www.psac.com/news/releases/2004/99-121004-e.shtml

dated Oct 12 they mention that strike is suspended at Parks Canada. It does not mention anything about Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

2. In the second link, namely
http://www.psac.com/news/releases/2004/103-131004-e.shtml
there is no information at all about Citizenship and Immigration Canada. They mention strike actions for 6 weeks, but they don´t say specifically CIC was on strike actions. That´s a good thing. However, it does not say CIC was not involved. Therefore, my conclusion is that this is inconclusive evidence.

3. The third link, namely
http://www.psac.com/news/releases/2004/106-151004-e.shtml
mentions the Canadian Grain Commission and the Canada Border Services Agency, nowhere is CIC mentioned. Therefore, I don´t see how this clarifies the issue of CIC strike.

I´m sorry, but I don´t see any evidence about CIC participation or non-participation in PSAC strike activities. So, I don´t know how Sharon argues that CIC was on strike at the most one week.

I prefer to stick to the SEMANTIC discussion I had yesterday with Sharon, in which we agreed that CIC did not excersice its legal right to carry strike actions.

Finally, Sharon I´m not trying to test your credibility. I´m just trying to educat myself on this issue. Unfortunately, I have not seen credible evidence that strike activities were carried by CIC, therefore in my mind those guys are still waiting for DECEMBER 12 to see what happends, just like Sharon clearly explained yestarday.

Thanks Sharon!


[09-11-2004,15:52]
ozz
surrender (in reply to: strike question... one last time)
I give up trying to explain this to you.
[09-11-2004,16:07]
Sharon
(in reply to: strike question... one last time)
Sharon,

Thanks for your help. I´m sorry I couldn´t understand. But I could understand the semantics, when you explained the issue yesterday. We concluded that there is not strike. In my mind there is no strike going on. The web page merely "scares" the CIC clients.

I´m sorry to dissapoint you.

Ozz

[09-11-2004,17:12]
ozz
scaring people (in reply to: strike question... one last time)
it only scares people when we talk about it like it has shut down the country. If english is not a readers first language... it becomes very unsettling. Even your most recent posting creates doubt about the situation. You say you understand, but then you post a quotation that sounds like you are confused again. If you carefully read your last recent posting, it is still only talking about CIC offices inside Canada, and the clarification by our anonymous poster confirms that all job action has ended.
[09-11-2004,18:12]
sharon
(in reply to: strike question... one last time)
Ozz...CIC IS NOT ON STRIKE. They should update their website, as that little notice is misleading. Forget about it and please try not to be so obsessed. Everyone on this forum has their interests and concerns and the stress is getting to us. I personally have limited my reading of this forum as it actually has been making things worse for me sometimes because of all the negativity and contradictions.

Sharon is right in that this is very unsettling to someone whose first language is not English and further, to anyone who is not in the country.

Please let it go.

[09-11-2004,18:19]
Wondering