CS Rally downtown Ottawa

There was a CS (Computer Services) union rally in downtown Ottawa today. We haven't had a contract for almost 2 years (hello back-pay!). I'm not a big union hack but it's important to go to these things once in awhile when Treasury Board starts talking 'pay cut'. No one likes that!

I'm paid a fair wage these days, but no sense in sitting around if they tell me they're gonna cut it. It all stems from this thing we get called a 'Terminable Allowance' (or TA). It was extra money we got back in the High Tech boom, pre-Year 2000 days and was used as a bargaining chip to give us a bigger increase but only declare a smaller one officially. Apparently our union never treated it as such
because it's fully pensionable and all the rest. It sounds like a 'Call it whatever you want' thing and the word 'Terminable' doesn't seem to have any teeth because they (Treasury Board, or TB) yanked it away from us last year and a Federal Court made them put it back. TB appealed and that got shot down too (gotta love it when the government takes itself to court and loses).

Ah well. At least I have a job... No one wants to go on strike but part of me wonders what the heck would happen if we did. Computers make our government go. When I take the odd day off I hold things up by not being here, I wonder what impact 1000 of us would have.

Hope we don't find out..

PS. I didn't like my sign, so I photoshopped a new slogan..