Canadian Chat → What's the deal with consular visa-processor workers?

I've heard this news story off-and-on for what seems like most of the past year. What's the deal with these "workers" who process foreign visas in various Canadian embassies around the world?

What specifically is their beef? Not getting paid enough? Who are these people? Do they have their own union?

What's the real back-story here?

I guess the flow of economic refugees into Canada has now ground to a halt due to their job action - and I can't say that I'm sad to hear it...

They are union, or they wouldn't be calling for a strike; the protected action of job disruption is exclusively a union tactic. My understanding reading the past the propaganda is it is a
wage issue, the foreign based staff are paid less than a Canadian based processor; then accusing the gov't of negotiating in bad faith (I can buy this)

This effectively is choking off visa acceptance from China, India and Mexico; kind of symbolic actually.

Here is an article: »www.castanet.net/news/Ca ··· shutdown

I don't think these are "foreign workers" hired to work in the Canadian embassies abroad. Cause they would not be in a union, and would likely be making a better wage than if they work in the private sector in their country. That said, either way these guys are greedy. They make good wages, easy work hours and a pension.

Maybe one day I can win the government lotto and get a cushy job like this!

--edit---
»www.pafso.com/news_releases.php
I just read the pafso website, and these are Canadian workers posted abroad getting paid less to do similar work as other civil servants in diff gov departments. Looks like they get paid less, and want the same wages.

Curious. Do you know what their work hours are? Do you know what their salaries are? Do you know what their working conditions are? Do you even know what their jobs are?

Didn't think so.

Haha in fact I do. I applied for a local position at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. It paid almost 80k Canadian (job was worth 45-50k tops private sector even in Tokyo Japan). I made it to the last interview before I was snowballed for not being a Japanese female. (though the turds that interviewed me said I wasn't fluent in Japanese though the posting only requested basic)

I'm sure the guys already get paid more than they produce, so I'm not overly sympathetic. (probably more for the reason above though) ;p

Not sure what relevance local hires have to do with this. The issues relate to Foreign Service Officers.

Yep, I clarified that. Anyhow, my point is that their job descriptions may be similar but their work loads, and working hours are less and levels of autonomy are much higher. So by my books they are looking for more money using some pretty poor criteria....

You're basing this on a job you applied for but didn't get. So you've never actually worked in that environment and really don;t know what you're talking about. Gotcha.