Chants of sa国际传媒渨hat do we want?sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒淩espectsa国际传媒� cried out near Greater Victoriasa国际传媒檚 naval base on Wednesday as unions representing federal employees rallied against what they called insulting wage offers by the federal government.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) says the Treasury Board of Canadasa国际传媒檚 recent offer of an annual 1.75-per-cent wage increase is out of touch given current cost of living challenges.

sa国际传媒淚f they think wesa国际传媒檙e going to accept that, theysa国际传媒檙e absolutely crazy,sa国际传媒� PSAC national president Chris Aylward said at the rally. sa国际传媒淲hat that equates to is basically a pay cut.sa国际传媒�

He said their thousands of local members at the base include those in administrative positions, trades workers, firefighters and more.

The most recent offer came in June following more than a year of negotiations that Aylward said have reached a deadlock. Similar rallies like the one outside CFB Esquimalt have been going on across the country ahead of possible rotating strikes among federal workers if the two sides cansa国际传媒檛 come to an agreement.

PSAC hasnsa国际传媒檛 budged from seeking a 4.5-per-cent annual pay bump for its public sector employees sa国际传媒� which Aylward said is well deserved after workers rolled out essential services and programs through the tough pandemic years.

sa国际传媒淲e were there for Canadians during the pandemic and wesa国际传媒檙e asking this government to be there for us, but what wesa国际传媒檝e seen so far at the bargaining table has been nothing but disrespect.sa国际传媒�

The alliance added the governmentsa国际传媒檚 offer also rejected mandatory training on systemic racism and discrimination. Black Press Media has asked for comment from the Treasury Board but had not received a response by publication time.

While most of the flack was directed at the federal Liberals, all parties drew criticism. Speaking in solidarity at the event, Victoria Labour Council president Darlene Gallant told the assembled crowd to hold the Trudeau government accountable on delivering a fair deal for workers, but also called out local NDP MPs for not pushing hard enough.

But the strongest words were hurled by Aylward at Conservative Party leadership frontrunner Pierre Poilievre for looking to take the party further right. Workerssa国际传媒� and union rights would be among the first things Poilievre would attack, Aylward said, should he and the Conservatives gain power. Black Press Media has asked the Poilievre campaign for comment.

sa国际传媒淏ut our focus now has to be on this federal Liberal government in Ottawa and wesa国际传媒檝e got to make sure that they get the message from coast to coast to coast that PSAC members are not willing to accept the garbage anymore.sa国际传媒�

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