Thread by @CroftonSteers

"Life isn't fair" as the popular saying goes. And it does honestly have some merit. /1

Was the COVID-19 pandemic that uprooted all our lives fair?

Are record inflation and soaring food prices fair?

Is the fact that the so much wealth is controlled by so few, fair? /2

No, nothing about any of that is fair.

So what do we do about it? Accept it and live with it? Or try to fight for fairness whenever possible? /3

I grew up as one of three boys. Fairness was the order of the day. If I got a CD for Christmas then my brothers got CDs as well. If one brother was in hockey, then the others would be in skiing or Scouts. Fairness was the touchstone in an unfair world. /4

Fairness is worth fighting for. But it is also in the eye of the beholder. Looking at the current PSAC strike demands: /5

Is it fair that, when signing a new contract, workers get a salary increase equal to the price increases over the past couple of years? /6

Is it fair that workers are consulted before their location or conditions of work are changed? /7

Is it fair that, when layoffs need to happen, the equally qualified person who has been there two years would have priority over the person that was there two weeks? /8

I would argue that all those things are fair. At least they are in my eyes. /9

Is it fair that Canadians across the county are inconvenienced by a strike that could have easily been averted over the past two years? /10

Is it fair to all Canadian workers that their government is signaling that it will not pay them the rate of inflation but instead would throw billions in subsidies at a Volkswagon plant? /11

I would argue that those things are not fair. /12

The TBS President Mona Fortier - our big boss - defended being frustrated at the negotiation table today by saying she felt that the current offer was "fair" because, despite not keeping up with inflation, one independent organization had said that it was. /13

Ironically, the same organization said that employees should be consulted about remote work and changes in their work conditions. /14

Like art, fairness is in the eye of the beholder but I - like thousands of PSAC employees - will continue to fight for what we feel is fair for us, which will have a butterfly effect for all Canadian workers. /15

So is life fair? No, but fairness is still worth fighting for.

Maybe I will put "Fairness Fighter" on my next sign. People could look at it and project whatever they think is fair to them.

Thanks for reading. In solidarity. /16
#PSACStrike2023 #WorkersCantWait