The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has authorized a national general strike beginning at 12:01 am ET on Wednesday, April 19 for all 155,000 PSAC members working for the Canada Revenue Agency and Treasury Board, excluding essential workers. The decision came late Tuesday night as negotiations broke down.

The decision has been made based on the federal government and PSAC not coming to an agreement on key issues such as wages, job security and remote work.

National President of PSAC Chris Alyward spoke to media Tuesday night announcing the strike.

"We've been in bargaining for almost two years. Our issues at the bargaining table still have not been addressed by this employer. We set a deadline for 9 p.m. this evening and I can tell you, that we do not have a tentative agreement. The Public Service Alliance of Canada and its 155,000 members will be on strike as of 12:01 a.m.," he said. "We are still here at the table, we will remain at the table, we will remain for as long as it takes during the strike and we will remain on strike until the government addresses our key issues at the bargaining table".

This strike will impact Six Nations of the Grand River as the community's five federal schools, as well as Ohsweken Public Health, are PSAC Union members. The strike will affect more than 1,100 Six Nations students and their families. As schools will be closed until a deal is met between the federal government and PSAC. Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) say that the maintenance for Ohsweken Public Health will also be affected by the strike, but most of the nursing staff are classified as essential workers and are not able to take strike action.

Six Nations Chief Mark Hill released a statement on the strike on Tuesday Night.

"The PSAC strike has impacted our Six Nations of the Grand River community and has the SNGR Elected Council concerned for all of our members, students and families,” he stated. “We are maintaining regular contact with federal officials in hopes of alleviating as much stress as possible through this difficult time. We will continue to assert political pressure to get all those affected in our community back to their regular routines as quickly as possible.”

SNEC say more updates will be provided to community members as information comes out.

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