PSAC workers’ strike begins its second day
Local
CBC: Two groups of PSAC workers have begun their second day of striking including more than 155,000 workers within multiple government departments and agencies under the Treasury Board, as well as tax workers from the CRA.
The two sides have agreed that the workers deserve a raise, however the current dispute between the union and the government is now about how big the raise should be.
The union proposed a larger raise to match the recent rise in the cost of living and high inflation. However, the government has proposed a smaller raise that purportedly balances the needs of taxpayers and the union’s workers.
Another driving factor in the negotiations between the PSAC union and the government is the addition of remote work rules which would allow workers to perform their full-time duties all from home.
Treasury Board President Mona Fortier has expressed her support for exploring the current hybrid model.
National
CBC: Police are investigating the theft of a “high value container” carrying gold and other valuable items worth an estimated $20 million from Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
Peel Regional Police explained the plane was unloaded according to normal procedure and its cargo was taken to an airport holding facility where it was ‘’Removed by Illegal mean.’’
The theft was reported quickly after it happened. Police believe this to be an isolated incident, and does not pose any concern to the general public who may be travelling at the airport.
Police have not yet made any arrests in relation to the theft and do not yet know where the gold was headed or if it is still in the country.
No suspect information has been released.
International
CBC: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship launch was both a failure and a success Thursday morning. The next generation rocket ship lifted off successfully from the Gulf Coast launch tower, but tumbled into an explosion after a failed separation of the second stage rocket.
The rocket ship, designed to take the future generation of explorers to the moon and Mars, stands a 394 feet tall, or 120 metres, making it taller than the Empire State building.
A live stream of the launch was available on Youtube. The stream showed the rocket successfully lifting off.
However four minutes after launch, the upper-stage Starship section failed to separate during a rotating manoeuvre, causing the entire ship to freefall into a spin as it burst into clouds of gas and debris.
