PSAC leaders give bargaining update at 12:30 p.m. ET | CBC News

Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) leaders have announced a bargaining update Wednesday from a 12:30 p.m. ET rally on Parliament Hill.

Tens of thousands of federal public servants represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) remain on strike.

The strike, which started a week ago, affects a significant portion of the national capital’s largest employer, disrupts about 30 departments and affects a range of services, including processing of income tax returns and passports. 

On Wednesday, PSAC asked members in the Ottawa area to come to Parliament Hill for a rally from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. As they did earlier in the week, strikers and supporters also temporarily slowed traffic on the Portage Bridge between Ottawa and Gatineau, Que., Wednesday morning.

The union and government have been working on a new deal since 2021. The union says its members need help with the rising cost of living and the government has said it needs a deal that’s fair for the union and taxpayers.

WATCH | The Treasury Board president’s Wednesday update:

Offers from PSAC ‘unreasonable and unaffordable’: Fortier

Treasury Board President Mona Fortier says she’s ‘frustrated’ by how negotiations with the union are going and by the ongoing strike.

In January, PSAC announced strike votes for the Treasury Board group of more than 120,000 members. Strike votes for this group happened from Feb. 22 until April 11, while strike votes for a CRA group of more than 35,000 workers were held from Jan. 31 until April 6.

Both sides agree members of each group should get a raise, but they differ on how much.

Issues on the table include who sets remote work rules, contracting and seniority’s role during layoffs, according to what they’ve shared publicly.

Proposals for contracting out work

Carleton University professor Rob Shepherd, who works in the school of public policy and administration, told CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning Wednesday contracting out work is a regular, legitimate federal union concern.

He also said it’s a reality for the government to adapt to people’s needs.

“Temporary workers were needed to bolster the regular public service and process [Canada Emergency Response Benefit] payments … This is a very common practice, especially for IT,” said Shepherd.

“It’s very difficult for the government of the day to get rid of one of its key levers of bolstering its public service.”

The union’s fear, he said, is the government cutting union jobs and replacing them with outsourced workers.

One analysis from his department suggested the federal government awarded about $22 billion worth of contracts in 2021-22, with an average contract length of about nine months.

PSAC contended this week, at least for the CRA group covered by its Union of Taxation Employees (UTE), that the agency has tried multiple times to hire private firms to do the same work its members could do.

“Research has shown that privatization and contracting out means higher costs, more risk, and reduced quality of services. PSAC-UTE is seeking new language in the collective agreement that will protect our work and our jobs,” it said.

Specifically, PSAC has proposals for both groups that include having employees hire and train new hires before contracting out work, for the government to consult with and prove to the union why it wants to contract out work, as well as track, review and share data on its use of temporary staff.

In this week’s open letter, the Treasury Board said it plans to reduce contracting while saying it has to use some contractors to avoid “severely [compromising] the Government’s ability to deliver services and work for Canadians.”

CBC has asked the CRA for its most recent public proposal.