Business Notes Strikes

Besieged by inflation, recession and unemployment as well as his pit-level approval rating (12%), Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney is trying to regain ground by attacking "fat cat" government employees. Last week 110,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (who typically earn $450 a week) countered a Mulroney pay freeze, which wiped out their promised raise, with a countrywide strike.

Shipping, airline flights and even auto manufacturing in some places were halted. An additional 46,000 PSAC employees deemed essential -- and barred from striking -- "worked to rule" in places like customs checkpoints, where backups ranged up to 12 hours. Mulroney's newest sally is a bill that Parliament debates this week. Besides a no-strike provision for PSAC employees, the hardball legislation would effectively ban collective bargaining for two years for workers in a far broader range of government- related jobs. While the battle rages, the Ottawa exchequer is saving $7 million a day in strikers' salaries.