The National Farmers Union is standing in solidarity with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members currently on strike. 

The NFU's 2nd Vice President Stewart Wells says it's important to remember that nobody prefers to be in a strike or a lockout position, and this is a last-ditch attempt to come to an agreement.

He points out the negotiations have been going on for some time and there hasn't been any resolution.

"The way I understand it,  these bargaining sessions between PSAC and the federal government started back in June of 2021. So these negotiations have been going on for almost two years, and there hasn't been any resolution to them. What it always boils down to is people are trying to decide what's fair. What's a fair wage, for a fair day's work?"

Wells says that leads us to the notion, should these federal workers be eligible for any kind of a raise, or should they go indefinitely working for the same amount of money?

"Every person in the country has seen how inflation, even if it's low at two or three per cent how that erodes your standard of living. When it gets up to that six and seven percent ( where it was a few months ago ) that just becomes that much more of a strain on your family's economy."

He adds it's always best if the agreement can be negotiated, without the threat of being legislated back to work.

"Legislation to force people to go back to work, because the two sides can't agree. There's never any real winners in the strike or lockout situation, but it's part of the bargaining process."

Wells says overall he sees it as being all about balance and government priorities.

"When you start thinking about the government stepping in and buying a pipeline, then those pipeline costs skyrocket. You know the number of billions of dollars that are being spent in one particular location - you have to sort of weigh that against what they're doing in other areas."

He points out the federal government has shown it has endless amounts of money to spend on things like pipelines and tax breaks for multinational corporations, yet people the country relies on to provide critical services to Canadians every day must hit the streets to be heard.

The National Farmers Union is urging both sides to have these meaningful negotiations and to wrap up this strike as quickly as possible. 

Wells says nobody wins the longer this drags out the worse it is.

"It's part of the bargaining process, and we're just urging everyone to get back to that table and hammer out a deal."

To hear Glenda-Lee's conversation with the NFU's 2nd Vice President Stewart Wells click on the link below.