OTTAWA – The nation’s largest federal public sector union
reached a tentative contract agreement with the government overnight, covering
more than 120,000 public servants across the country and returning them to work
after a 12-day strike.
It meant that most of the Public Services Alliance of Canada
workers who had been picketing since April 19 were expected to report to work
on Monday morning or their next scheduled shift.
But some 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency employees were still
on strike on the day of the federal tax filing deadline, as negotiations on a
separate collective agreement continued.
“PSAC members stood together and secured a fair contract
that keeps up with the cost of living, increased protections around remote
work, and creates safer, more inclusive workplaces,” said Chris Aylward,
national president of the union, in a statement.
The union said its Tax Employees Union bargaining team would
enter into “lightning bargains” with the CRA on Monday.
The tentative deal announced early Monday came after the
Treasury Board, which oversees the running of the federal government, submitted
what it described as a “final offer” on Friday.
“This was not easy. We negotiated, we compromised and we
found creative solutions,” Treasury Board Chair Mona Fortier said at a news
conference Monday afternoon.
“And after many days, nights and weekends of hard work, we
have reached agreements that are fair and competitive for employees.”
The tentative deals come after a union push for
inflation-compensating wage increases, along with a host of other demands,
including language around remote work agreements, referred to in the public
service as telecommuting.
The agreements include salary increases of 11.5 percent over
four years, with a group-specific additional allowance of 0.5 percent in the
third year of the contracts.
Previously, the federal government had offered a 9 percent
pay increase over three years, while the union was asking for 13.5 percent.
With the tentative agreements, the union says compound wage
increases total 12.6 percent.
Workers will also receive a one-time, pensionable payment of
$2,500 in a lump sum that represents an additional 3.7 percent of salary for
the average union member in Treasury Board bargaining units.
The union said members will have access to additional
protections when the employer makes arbitrary decisions about remote work, and
managers will be required to assess telework requests individually, not by
group, and provide written responses.
Fortier clarified that teleworking is addressed with a
separate letter.
“As stated in a letter outside of the collective agreement,
a joint review will update our directive for the post-pandemic era, and
additional mechanics will help address individual concerns,” Fortier said.
The tentative agreement also includes protections against
subcontracting labor. According to the union, in the event of a layoff, an
employee who can perform work that is being performed by a contract contractor
will not lose their job.
PSAC said the tentative agreement also addresses their
claims regarding seniority rights in the event of layoffs.
He said both sides agreed to jointly submit a proposal to
the Public Service Commission of Canada to include seniority rights in future
“workplace adjustment” plans, or changes to the workforce to reflect the
executive’s priorities.
Public servants had been picketing locations across the
country for a dozen days in what the union said was one of the largest labor
actions in Canadian history.
Service disruptions were apparent during the strike, from
delays at the border to pauses in applications for new job insurance,
immigration and passports.
“We are going to resume activities as quickly as we can,”
Fortier said of the disruption to federal services.
Initial negotiations on a new collective agreement had
initially begun in June 2021, and the union had declared deadlock in May 2022,
with both parties filing labor grievances since then.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on
May 1, 2023
