Foreign Service - Strike?

[Catou]

There is nothing stopping us from stirring the pot. Think of a YouTube channel with people posting video clips of spouses crying, children sending messages to parents, everyone making a plea to the Canadian government. Or a Flickr group with photos of miserable families wanting to join their parents and spouses. I can record our dog crying piteously every night as she waits for my husband

"The Face of Canadian family reunification 2013" link sent to every media outlet we can come up with, across the world.

Putting a human face onto a bureaucratic balls-up might not be such a bad idea. This would only work if enough of us contributed to it though.

 

[agarand8]

There is nothing stopping us from stirring the pot. Think of a YouTube channel with people posting video clips of spouses crying, children sending messages to parents, everyone making a plea to the Canadian government. Or a Flickr group with photos of miserable families wanting to join their parents and spouses. I can record our dog crying piteously every night as she waits for my husband

"The Face of Canadian family reunification 2013" link sent to every media outlet we can come up with, across the world.

Putting a human face onto a bureaucratic balls-up might not be such a bad idea. This would only work if enough of us contributed to it though.

I would make a video if we could find someone to start and upkeep the channel, cause I know nothing about youtube. I can make a video on my iphone easily enough though and e-mail it to someone.

 

[Lifer]

Anybody think the conservatives are probably happy with the strike because it means they don't have to pay the workers AND less foreigners coming into the country? From the perspective of some people, that's win/win. I guess it's bad for them that universities and tourism are losing so much money though.

 

[gongdi]

Anybody think the conservatives are probably happy with the strike because it means they don't have to pay the workers AND less foreigners coming into the country? From the perspective of some people, that's win/win. I guess it's bad for them that universities and tourism are losing so much money though.

Yes, it's probably part of their so-called "action plan"! Actually, Tim Horton's and other corporations involved in the foreign skilled worker slave trade are probably unhappy with the current hold up.

 

[roomonfire23]

Anybody think the conservatives are probably happy with the strike because it means they don't have to pay the workers AND less foreigners coming into the country? From the perspective of some people, that's win/win. I guess it's bad for them that universities and tourism are losing so much money though.

The conspiracy theorist in me agrees with your assessment, though purposefully hurting future voters would be an unwise move. Harper is smarter than that. It's all about money and posturing. The conservatives will spin the strike into a positive for them during the next election. Speeches will be made about how the Harper government was tough on overpaid unions.

 

[agarand8]

Yes, it's probably part of their so-called "action plan"! Actually, Tim Horton's and other corporations involved in the foreign skilled worker slave trade are probably unhappy with the current hold up.

yeah McDonalds too.

but the govt wont mind it, since they pay half of the wages of the workers that are being help up by visa wait times.

 

[marianasanroman]

I would make a video if we could find someone to start and upkeep the channel, cause I know nothing about youtube. I can make a video on my iphone easily enough though and e-mail it to someone.

LETS DO IT!! we could just advertise it, there are tons of facebook groups of people affected by this strike and we could ask our friends and family to share the video... LETS DO IT! at this point im up for anything that will help me get to Canada faster.. havent seen my boyfriend in almost a year.. i can't even imagine the pain of not seeing your spouse for any length of time... we gotta start acting...

 

[messenger]

LETS DO IT!! we could just advertise it, there are tons of facebook groups of people affected by this strike and we could ask our friends and family to share the video... LETS DO IT! at this point im up for anything that will help me get to Canada faster.. havent seen my boyfriend in almost a year.. i can't even imagine the pain of not seeing your spouse for any length of time... we gotta start acting...

Hi to all

If you need any FB space to promote this video let me know. I admin an FB Greek membership group that deals with assisting each other in Immigration matters for Canada. We have a 590 strong membership power!

Let me know
Tom

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

There is nothing stopping us from stirring the pot. Think of a YouTube channel with people posting video clips of spouses crying, children sending messages to parents, everyone making a plea to the Canadian government. Or a Flickr group with photos of miserable families wanting to join their parents and spouses. I can record our dog crying piteously every night as she waits for my husband

"The Face of Canadian family reunification 2013" link sent to every media outlet we can come up with, across the world.

Putting a human face onto a bureaucratic balls-up might not be such a bad idea. This would only work if enough of us contributed to it though.

I wouldn't suggest posting a video of people crying. Visceral appeals seldom work unless you are trying to get on Ellen. You need a fact based approach that ties in with all the anti-people moves Herr Harper has been up to.

 

[Vats]

The strike is endless. . . . . .. I have never seen such a long strike anywhere ??? ??? ???

 

[Catou]

I wouldn't suggest posting a video of people crying. Visceral appeals seldom work unless you are trying to get on Ellen. You need a fact based approach that ties in with all the anti-people moves Herr Harper has been up to.

For Canadian media, I agree, however to make a wave big enough to grab attention that will focus attention on the issues and apply pressure I don't think you can beat the face of human suffering. We all know children are starving in parts of the world but the charities wanting money for this don't explain how politics, war or drought cause the suffering - they show images of starving children. People who have never emigrated or even thought about doing so are still people who have loved ones and who can imagine how hard it would be to be parted from them. Foreign media won't publish stories without including the facts but I really do think that putting a face on our situations would make the situation identifiable. We aren't just x-number of y-numbers of pending applications affected by the strike. We are the people and families wanting to get on with normal family lives with our loved ones.
Canadian media would pick up on the story and put their own slant on it, be it pro-government, anti-union, or humanitarian. Any coverage would be, IMO, better than we have now.

 

[costaudjoe]

More news:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/labour-board-rules-on-email-spat-in-diplomats-strike-1.1858144

 

[RM15]

another update:


http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Foreign+service+officers+plan+mass+walkout+protest+faith+appeal/8927809/story.html

 

[ramrey5264]

Any body have some news about the strike?..

 

[Dan_from_Surrey]

Any one have some news about the strike?..

Nothing new in the last few days. I was just checking the PAFSO site, and the last bit of news was a release from the 18th stating how they where disappointed with the Government appealing the Bad Faith decision instead of going back to bargaining. No surprise there, great delaying tactic by the government.

If nothing else, this whole job action should show people coming to Canada just how little the government thinks of the average citizen of this country.