Time is running out for Public Service Agency of Canada (PSAC) and the federal government to reach an agreement and avert what the union says could be one of the largest strikes in the country’s history.
Canada’s largest public service union has set a deadline of 9 p.m. Eastern Tuesday for the two sides to make a deal. Otherwise, more than 155,000 workers — including 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency employees — are prepared to walk off the job beginning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Wednesday.
Talks were ongoing as of Tuesday afternoon, with a PSAC spokesperson telling Global News the union was putting “all of our focus on bargaining leading up to the 9 p.m. deadline” and declining media interviews.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday he believed the government and the union were working hard to avoid a strike.
“I think it’s really important that Canadians can continue to rely on the kinds of services they need from the federal government, and that’s why both parties at the table are negotiating extremely diligently and with a lot of intensity to try and resolve this for Canadians,” he said.
Speaking to reporters during a press conference Tuesday morning, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh — who has repeatedly spoken in support of the union’s quest for higher wage increases — said he had urged Trudeau directly to do the same.
“Those public sector workers who did so much in the pandemic deserve respect,” he said.
“What this comes down to is the prime minister and the government ensuring that these workers have a fair contract.”
Singh said there was still time to avert a strike, but stressed that if workers walk off the job his party will not support back-to-work legislation, which the government has used to end past labour disputes like the 2018 Canada Post strike.
“We will never support that,” he said.
The NDP’s ongoing supply-and-confidence agreement with the minority Liberals keeps the government in power, and Singh did not clearly answer when asked if back-to-work legislation would endanger the deal itself. He said he has been clear the party’s MPs will not support any legislation, which would need to pass a vote in the House of Commons.
“I looked the prime minister in the eye and said, ‘We are a worker’s party,’” he said. “We’ll never consider that an option for us.
“But I also want to make clear that it doesn’t have to get to that. It doesn’t have to get to a strike. It doesn’t have to get to that legislation. We’re not there yet.”
Trudeau said Monday the government was focused on the negotiations when asked if he would consider back-to-work legislation.
Canadians could face serious delays in accessing federal services if strikes were to happen, most notably in the tax department with 35,000 CRA workers off the job. That could prove challenging to those who have yet to file their returns ahead of the May 1 tax deadline, with the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses urging the Canada Revenue Agency to reconsider its refusal to delay the tax filing deadline in the event of a strike.
The Union of Taxation Employees is negotiating separately from PSAC but is a part of that larger union. PSAC has said the 9 p.m. Tuesday deadline applies to those talks as well.
The other 120,000 PSAC members include cleaners and cooks on military bases, clerks and maintenance workers, tradespeople, Coast Guard search and rescue teams, teachers, firefighters and workers who process employment insurance, passport applications and immigration documents.
NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said in a statement Tuesday that a strike “threatens to worsen an immigration system already in chaos,” pointing to lengthy processing times and the large backlog of applications that employees are “scrambling” to address.
Wage increases have been top of mind at the bargaining table.
The Treasury Board released a statement on Monday afternoon saying that it offered the union a nine per cent raise over three years on Sunday, on the recommendation of the third-party Public Interest Commission.
But the union has pushed for a 13.5 per cent retroactive increase in wages over three years, with Aylward saying the rate of inflation was 13.8 per cent over the same period.
PSAC’s desired increase works out to 4.5 per cent over each of those three years.
It has also kept issues such as greater limits on contract work, more anti-racism training and provisions for remote work on the table.
Mediated contract negotiations between PSAC and the Treasury Board began in early April and continued through the weekend in what the union describes as the government’s last chance to reach a deal.
“There is still time to reach agreement before strike action begins. We know that the sooner an agreement is reached, the sooner wage increases and benefits reach employees,” the Treasury Board, which is responsible for the administration of the federal government, said in a statement on Monday afternoon.
Chris Aylward, the union’s national president, said at a news conference on Monday morning that workers are prepared to strike for “however long it takes.”
Workers will be required to show up at picket lines for four hours each day if they go on strike, the union says, and will have to scan a barcode at those picketing locations in order to receive daily strike pay of $75. Those who do not join the picket lines will not get paid during the strike.
There will be exceptions to the rules for those who have mobility issues, disabilities or have discussed their circumstances with the union. They will be given other administrative duties to complete in lieu of picketing.
—With files from Aaron D’Andrea and the Canadian Press
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