Canada Strike Continues Despite New Law
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OTTAWA — Several hundred Canadian public servants continued to picket and block traffic Thursday in some parts of the country despite Parliament’s passage of a bill ordering them to end a national walkout.
The strikers are protesting a government freeze on wages this year and an offer of only a 3% increase next year.
According to the bill, rank-and-file public servants could be fined $1,000 a day for striking. The legislation went to the Senate Wednesday after passing the Commons late Tuesday night.
The public service union represents 155,000 federal employees. About 70,000 workers carried out a 10-day strike last month but agreed to return to work on Sept. 18 after a promise that bargaining would resume. The renewed talks failed, however, and the strike began again a week ago.
About 110,000 of the union’s members were eligible to strike. Another 45,000 are considered “essential” and were legally barred from striking.
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