Members of the Federation of Labour held a rally outside MP Tom Osborne’s office in St. John’s yesterday afternoon, decrying announced cuts to the public sector and urging Ottawa to respect the rights of unions to strike.

The rally was part of the federation’s constitutional convention in St. John’s.

Chris Di Liberatore of the Public Service Alliance of Canada says government needs to invest more in its workforce to provide better services to Canadians, rather than cutting funding.

“They know that frontline services are already stretched thin. They see the backlogs and the strain. They know more cuts are only going to make things worse,” he told a crowd of protesters.

“These cuts aren’t about efficiency – let’s be realistic about that. These cuts are about choices. Choices to make life harder for working people, and choices that will help wealthy and well-connected do better, instead of everyday Canadians.”