It’s clear the Liberal government is feeling the pressure as we escalate our strike actions across the country. But we’ve been clear – the offer the government has on the table simply doesn’t cut it. And while we’ve had our sleeves rolled up for the past two years and have been ready to negotiate day and night to reach a fair deal, this government has consistently dragged out negotiations and tried to nickel and dime Canada’s workers.
Without a wage increase since the beginning of the pandemic, our members have fallen behind inflation to the tune of nearly 11% of their earnings. After losing more ground to runaway prices than workers in any other sector for years, the government is now saying Canada’s public service workers should be happy with an offer that leaves them even further behind.
And let’s not forget, these are the same members who delivered essential services to Canadians in a time of crisis. Imagine working every day and not having a contract, and because of Phoenix, not even knowing if you will be paid at all. These are regular Canadians who show up day in and day out to do the work that keeps our country running.
We came to the table with demands that reflect the need for significant change in our members’ workplaces. Workers deserve fair wages that keep up with rising costs, remote work to be spelled out in their contract and better job security. Those demands haven’t been met at the table, and we will continue to prioritize the needs of our members until we reach a fair deal.
The truth is, we don’t want a strike any more than our members; any more than Canadians; any more than this government. But we’ve been at the table for nearly two years. How long can workers wait?
We’re calling on the Liberal government to work with us on getting to a fair deal so that members can leave the picket lines behind and return to the work they’re proud to do.
PSAC National President Chris Aylward delivered the following message to members of the Treasury Board and CRA bargaining teams
Friends,
You may have seen the headlines this weekend – things didn’t get off to a great start.
We made some progress in the end, but we’re not there yet.
I can report that at the Treasury Board common issues table, we made some headway on remote work language, and both sides have moved in order to get closer to a resolution on wage increases.
At the CRA bargaining table, talks continue but without a new mandate from the employer, things haven’t moved much further.
So we’re not at the finish line yet, but I know that we can get to a fair deal for all 155,000 PSAC members thanks to the strong strike mandate you’ve delivered and the incredible solidarity you’ve shown from coast to coast to coast.
As we moved towards our strike deadline last week, the employer finally put a wage offer of 9% over three years on the table. You did that.
And when you hit the picket lines, it’s the first time we saw real progress at the table. You did that.
Even if the government seems content to prolong this strike and its impact on Canadians, I know you have the collective power to get us to a fair deal in the coming days. And tomorrow we’re going to escalate our actions.
PS: I know many of you still have lots of questions so we’ve updated our FAQ.
April 22, 2023
This afternoon, PSAC’s National President, Chris Aylward, National Executive Vice President Sharon DeSousa and Regional Executive Vice President — NCR, Alex Silas gave a bargaining update on Treasury Board bargaining.
While members are not on picket lines this weekend, we are still on strike, including members who are regularly scheduled to work on the weekend, and if we don’t reach a deal by Sunday, workers will be back on picket lines Monday morning. Members and public supporters can find the nearest picket line using PSAC’s picket line finder tool.
UNE is receiving a lot of questions regarding strike pay top-up. Unfortunately, UNE does not have a strike fund and does not provide strike pay top-up. However, some UNE Locals have established strike funds and may provide some additional financial assistance during the strike. Members should contact their Local Executive to inquire about possible assistance during the strike.
Furthermore, there are some UNE Locals who established strike funds, but those funds cannot be accessed because the Local has been inactive for quite some time and they have not complied with the requirements set out in the UNE Bylaws. In order for those funds to be accessed, Locals need to hold an annual general meeting, hold elections and present financial statements for approval. The Local will then designate signatories and have those members change the signatures on the account at the bank. Once those steps have been completed, the Local will have access to funds and may choose to provide financial assistance retroactively. UNE staff will assist Locals in completing these steps and getting your Local active again.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for assistance. We understand this is a difficult time for our striking members and information coming from every angle can be overwhelming and confusing.
We are here to help. Please contact your Deputy Trustee Teams if you have questions.
Due to the current climate facing our Union, we understand many of our members are either on strike or working hard to achieve Local Conformance. As a result, UNE has extended the deadline for Convention Registration and submission of Resolutions.
The new deadline is Monday, May 15, 2023 at midnight EST.
Picket lines will go up across the country April 19 as more than 155,000 Public Service Alliance of Canada members working for Treasury Board and Canada Revenue Agency begin strike action.
“We truly hoped we wouldn’t be forced to take strike action, but we’ve exhausted every other avenue to reach a fair contract for Canada’s Federal Public Service workers,” said Chris Aylward, PSAC national president. “Now more than ever, workers need fair wages, good working conditions and inclusive workplaces. And it’s clear the only way we’ll achieve that is by taking strike action to show the government that workers can’t wait.”
Strike action will begin at 12:01am ET April 19 – setting the stage for one of the largest strikes in Canada’s history.
Picket lines will be set up in more than 250 locations across the country. Members and public supporters can find the nearest picket line using PSAC’s picket line finder tool.
With nearly a third of the entire federal public service workers on strike, Canadians can expect to see slowdowns or a complete shutdown of services nationwide beginning tomorrow, including a complete halt of the tax season; disruptions to employment insurance, immigration, and passport applications; interruptions to supply chains and international trade at ports; and slowdowns at the border with administrative staff on strike.
“As we begin this historic strike, PSAC bargaining teams will remain at the table night and day as they have been for weeks,” Aylward said. “We’re ready to reach a fair deal as soon as the government is ready to come to the table with a fair offer.”
Negotiations between PSAC and Treasury Board began in June 2021, but reached impasse in May 2022.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is Canada’s largest federal public service union, representing nearly 230,000 workers in every province and territory in Canada, including more than 120,000 federal public service workers employed by Treasury Board, and more than 35,000 employed by the Canada Revenue Agency.
Use our picket line finder to register for the picket line closest to you. You’ll get a confirmation email and reminders by email and text before the strike. You may receive specific instructions on where to picket from your PSAC regional office.
When you get to the picket line, sign in with a picket captain with the barcode you received by email. Remember to sign IN and OUT of each shift on the picket line by scanning your barcode. We need your attendance recorded in order to process strike pay. If you did not receive a barcode, a picket captain can help you sign in.
Invite your coworkers, friends and family to join you on the line. Now more than ever, there is power and solidarity in numbers.
If you can’t find a picket line near you or you have any other questions, please contact your nearest PSAC regional office and review our frequently asked questions page for more information about the strike.
As you know, we’ve been in negotiations with the federal government for the past two weeks to try and reach a fair deal for our members.
While we’ve made some progress at each of our four bargaining tables over the weekend, we’re still too far apart on several key issues, including wages that keep up with the cost of living, job security and remote work language. There are also still several outstanding table-specific issues to address.
We know you deserve fair wages and decent working conditions. That’s why we’re committed to remaining at the table for our 120,000 Treasury Board members this week, and today, negotiations resume for 35,000 members at the Canada Revenue Agency.
We understand you’re frustrated that while negotiations drag on, you continue to fall behind. We’ve already been at the table for nearly two years, and you can’t wait any longer.
That’s why we’re setting a clock on negotiations. If there is no deal reached by 9 p.m. ET tomorrow, April 18, we will launch a national general strike beginning at 12:01 a.m. ET Wednesday, April 19 for all our 155,000 PSAC members working for both CRA and Treasury Board.
Over the coming days, you’ll continue to receive more information to help you prepare for potential strike action, including how you’ll receive strike pay and how you can join a picket line.
And later today, we will be launching a picket line finder tool allowing you to use your postal code to find a picket line near you.
Check out the frequently asked questions page for everything you need to know about the strike, including information about strike pay, essential workers, and more. If you haven’t already, you can also complete our online strike preparation course any time to prepare you for strike action.
This is a truly historic moment – together, we will show this government what PSAC members can do when they work together.
This is a reminder to all UNE members that we are less than three weeks away from the deadline to submit resolutions. The Convention Committees, where resolutions will be discussed, are scheduled to take place in Ottawa June 12-15.
How Can You Get Your Resolutions To Us?
Option 1
Locals should appoint a Convention resolutions committee; these are normally made up of three to five members. Some Locals may prefer to appoint a committee for each resolution topic: constitution and bylaws, finance, and general resolutions. Your Local should issue a notice asking members to submit resolutions to your Convention resolutions committee. Allow plenty of time for the committee to prepare a report. Members of the committee should also be encouraged to submit their own resolutions. Each committee’s report and additional resolutions should be presented during a general membership meeting. This meeting should provide ample time to debate resolutions before members cast a vote.
Option 2
Any member in good standing can submit a resolution to Convention by having it co-signed by five other members in good standing.
Submit Your Resolution Online
You should submit your resolutions electronically on our website. Completing this process significantly reduces the time required to prepare resolutions for committee review in June.
The Black Class Action Secretariat and several major unions are renewing calls to settle the lawsuit on behalf of tens of thousands of Black federal public service workers in the wake of the government’s admission the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) discriminated against its Black and racialized employees.
“It is inconceivable that the federal government would spend millions of dollars fighting Black public service workers in court, when the government itself has concluded that the very institution designed to address discrimination, is discriminatory,” said Nicholas Marcus Thompson, executive director of the Black Class Action Secretariat.
The recent ruling by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBCS) is a scathing admission that the CHRC – the government’s own human rights watchdog mandated to fight racism and discrimination – is itself plagued by anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination.
The federal government has been trying to dismiss the Black Class Action since it was launched in December 2020, arguing that the workers should pursue other avenues for redress such as filing a human rights complaint with the CHRC. This recent revelation puts the CHRC’s credibility into question as the appropriate avenue to achieve justice for Black public sector workers.
“Enough is enough. Our members deserve justice, they deserve respect, and they deserve to be made whole,” said Chris Aylward, PSAC national president. “It’s time for this government to make things right so we can move forward in creating a more equitable and diverse federal public service, free of anti-Black racism.”
In the 2022 federal budget, the government committed $3.7 million over four years to create a mental health program to address racial trauma and discrimination experienced by Black workers in the federal public service. However, the government has been accused of discriminating against Black workers developing the Black Mental Health Action Plan. Earlier this year, Treasury Board terminated the employees it hired to work on the plan after they raised serious concerns about experiencing anti-Black racism. PSAC has also filed grievances on behalf of those workers and has requested transparency from Treasury Board on how the Action Plan is being developed.
The Black Class Action Secretariat and Canada’s unions are calling for the government to cease its efforts in dismissing the lawsuit, and instead actively work towards redress for the workers who have been harmed and end systemic discrimination within its ranks.
“This important legal action shines a light on systemic racism and discrimination within our workplaces, and it is a vital step towards fostering a more equitable and inclusive environment for all employees,” said Jennifer Carr, national president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. “It is our collective responsibility to ensure that every individual is treated with fairness, respect, and dignity, and we must address the root causes of inequality in order to build a more just and compassionate society. We demand the government end its delay tactics and work with Black Class Action to bring equity and justice to public service workers.”
“The CLC stands in solidarity with Black workers and against all forms of racial discrimination,” said Larry Rousseau, executive vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress. “We support Black workers pursuing equity, equality, and full, fair participation in the labour market. We strongly urge the federal government to uphold the human rights of its workers and redress the injustices faced by Black federal public service employees.”
The Parks Canada bargaining team had more than 5,000 members across the country top of mind when they made the tough decision to declare an impasse late last week. This decision follows nearly a year of bargaining with the employer, who has come to the table with no mandate to bargain, no monetary proposal, and no serious engagement on important issues our team has at the table. While the Parks Canada continues to stall, we continue to fight for a fair contract.
Parks Canada workers are tired of waiting
We have key issues on the table to improve the day-to-day lives and working conditions of Parks members, but the only response we’ve received from the employer has been about grammar and acronyms in the collective agreement. The employer gave no response to our team’s monetary package that would raise the bar for Parks workers from forestry technicians and park wardens to workers in physical sciences and architecture and general labourers. Parks Canada members deserve better.
Declaring impasse means our bargaining decided that we’ve gone as far as we can in the bargaining process with no resolution in sight. We have been working hard to secure a deal, but without a counter-proposal on the table from the employer, we are forced to take action.
We expect the employer to take our proposals seriously and engage in meaningful negotiations.
Our team is looking for a fair contract that provides wage increases that keep up with inflation as members try to balance household budgets and recognizes workers never stopped coming into the workplace throughout the pandemic. Parks members in term and seasonal contracts have been hit especially hard.
What’s next?
Already, tens of thousands of PSAC members have registered for strike votes that will start this month for federal public service workers. We know that our union’s real power lies with workers, including Parks Canada members.
Our Parks Canada bargaining team will be ramping up plans to mobilize members for upcoming actions and events in the months ahead.
We will keep you updated when we have more information from the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment about our declaration of impasse.
Stay involved
Make sure you receive all the latest news about bargaining with the Parks Canada Agency by keeping your contact information up to date
Have you filled out our mobilization survey? Tell how you want to help reach a fair contract for members across the country
