Union leader Alex Silas arrested at PSAC rally Wednesday

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Published Feb 07, 2024 • 2 minute read

An Ottawa police cruiser surrounded by a crowd as PSAC demonstrators block traffic on Star Top Road Wednesday. Photo by Jean Levac /POSTMEDIA

A Wednesday morning rally by striking military base workers led to the arrest of one of the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s (PSAC) union leaders.

Alex Silas, PSAC’s regional executive vice-president for the National Capital Region, was arrested by Ottawa Police shortly after 10:30 a.m., as Non-Public Funds workers blockaded Star Top Road, off Innes Road in the city’s east end. Outside of a National Defence building, union members chanted and waved flags as they demanded a fair contract.

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The arrest took place as about 150 picketers blocked the street to traffic, many of them chanting and blowing horns. Silas chanted “solidarity” as he was being arrested.

This newspaper reached out to the Ottawa Police Service for information on charges. A spokesperson for the police service said only that one person was arrested at approximately 10:40 a.m. and that the investigation was ongoing, with officers remaining at the scene as of early Wednesday afternoon.

Almost 500 Non-Public Funds workers in Bagotville, Kingston, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Petawawa, Valcartier and Ottawa began striking last month, demanding better wages, a national pay grid for workers across Canada and better job security. Members met at picket lines on January 15 after PSAC announced the week prior that a strike would take place if an agreement on a contract for workers wasn’t reached.

Providing morale and welfare services on military bases, Non-Public Funds workers form part of the federal public service and are employed by Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS), a separate agency. According to the Government of Canada website, CFMWS operates on behalf of the chief of defence staff and under the authority of the defence minister. As staff are not National Defence or Treasury Board employees, they have their own pension, pay system and collective agreements.

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They are represented by PSAC and its component, the Union of National Defence Employees (UNDE), which has 18,000 public and private sector members at the Department of National Defence, including almost 500 striking NPF workers.

Five union executives, including Silas, were expected to hold a media availability outside of the Joint Intelligence Operations Centre at 1600 Star Top Rd. on Wednesday morning, though the event was cancelled after the arrest took place. About 150 striking workers from the Ontario and Quebec bases were bussed into Ottawa for the event.

As police started to drive away with Silas in the back seat, striking workers yelled “shame,” later surrounding the police cruiser. Blocking the vehicle, the employees blew horns and chanted “Free Alex.”

About an hour later, after pulling off into a parking lot, the vehicle drove off.

More to come…

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