PSAC announces general strike beginning Wednesday

More than 155,000 public servants across Canada will begin strike action Wednesday morning if no deal is reached with the federal government, the head of the country's largest public section union announced Monday.

A potential strike by Public Service Alliance of Canada workers under Treasury Board and the Canada Revenue Agency would affect a range of services, including tax returns, passport applications and immigration application processing.

"We're setting a clock on this round of bargaining," PSAC president Chris Aylward said Monday morning.

"If there's no deal reached by 9 p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow, April 18, I'm authorizing a national general strike beginning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time Wednesday April 19 for all 155,000 PSAC members working for both the Canada Revenue Agency and Treasury Board.

"We've already been at the table for nearly two years, and these workers can't wait any longer."

Last week, PSAC announced more than 120,000 public servants across the Treasury Board voted "overwhelmingly" in favour of strike action to back demands for a new contract. On April 7, PSAC-Union of Taxation Employees announced 35,000 unionized workers at the Canada Revenue Agency voted in favour of strike action.

Under the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act, the union has 60 days to call a strike following a favourable strike vote.

Aylward says negotiators for PSAC representing 120,000 employees across dozens of departments and agencies have made progress in contract talks over the past two weeks.

"We're still too far apart on several key issues, including wages that keeps up with the cost of living, job security and remote work language."

Talks are resuming Monday between the Canada Revenue Agency and PSAC-Union of Taxation Employees, which represents the 35,000 CRA workers. The two sides agreed to resume negotiations between April 17 and 20, with the help of a third-party mediator.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada has asked for a 13.5 per cent raise over three years for staff members working under Treasury Board. Aylward told reporters on Monday that PSAC has not been offered a 10.5 per cent raise that other unions have settled on with the government.

"We've always maintained and continue to maintain that we need to see a decent wage for our workers that keeps up with the rate of inflation."

PSAC and the federal government began contract negotiations in 2021.

"It's becoming very frustrating, that's why we're basically putting a clock on this round of bargaining and setting a deadline," Aylward said. "From what we've seen, there's no need for this to drag out any more, basically."

"Our members are getting extremely frustrated."

GOVERNMENT SAYS WAGE OFFER 'FAIR', WON'T BUDGE ON REMOTE WORK

In a statement Monday afternoon, the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) said the government tabled a wage offer of nine per cent over three years on Sunday, which it says mirrors the recommendations of the third-party Public Interest Commission.

"This is a fair and competitive offer," the TBS said. 

However, the government suggested it would not entertain PSAC’s demand to include language on remote work in collective agreements.

"The PSAC has made it clear that if other demands, like enshrining telework in collective agreements, are not met, this is a dealbreaker. These demands, as currently drafted, would severely impact the Government’s ability to deliver services to Canadians and would limit its ability to effectively manage employees within the public service," the TBS said. "We have reasonable counter-proposals that fairly address the concerns of public servants and we call on the PSAC to work with us towards compromise solutions."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on Monday that he’s “very hopeful” the two sides will come to an agreement.

"We need to make sure that we're properly supporting those who work in our public service,” he said. “That's why conversations have been ongoing at the bargaining table for weeks now. There have been constructive advances and offers, and we're very hopeful that we're going to be able to resolve this.

“But it's at the bargaining table that these things happen, and we will continue to be there in good faith and work on trying to resolve this for all Canadians.”

The last Canada-wide strike by public service workers was in 2001. Aylward warns that if a strike happens, Canadians would see service disruptions including delays with employment insurance, passport and immigration applications.

The federal government has released details on how a potential strike could affect services to Canadians. Here is a look at some of the potential impacts:

• Passports – Employment and Social Development Canada warns passport services may be partially or fully disrupted in the event of a strike
• Service Canada – in-person services at Service Canada Centres will be limited to clients requiring assistance with Employment Insurance, Social Insurance, Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security
• Global Affairs Canada – the department says it will maintain all essential services in the event of a strike, but delays are expected
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada – the department says people can expect delays with processing applications and in-person appointments and events
• Canada Revenue Agency – the CRA says "certain services may be affected" in the event of a strike, including delays in processing income tax and benefit