PSAC says it has ‘compromised’ on wage demands as federal government strike continues

The union representing tens of thousands of striking federal government workers said it had compromised on its wage demand but refused to offer more details, as one of the largest strikes in Canadian history carried into its eighth day.

“We have moved off our [earlier] wage demands, but yet the employer hasn’t moved on their wage demands and yet are telling us that we’re the ones that have to move,” Chris Aylward, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), told reporters on Parliament Hill Wednesday.

“We have compromised,” Aylward continued without disclosing the union’s current wage demands, saying he wouldn’t negotiate in the media.

“I’m simply telling you that we moved off our wage offer. The employer still has not moved off their wage demand of nine per cent over three years.”

Last Wednesday, tens of thousands of Treasury Board employees from numerous federal departments and agencies walked off the job, alongside more than 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) workers, who are represented by an arm of PSAC known as the Union of Taxation Employees.

The government has stood firm on its latest offer of a nine per cent wage increase over three years for both groups of workers, mirroring the recommendation made earlier this year by the federal labour board’s public interest commission.

According to Aylward, the government hasn’t described that offer as “final.”

Pointing to months of severe inflation, PSAC has recently pushed for a 13.5 per cent increase over three years for Treasury Board employees, and a 22.5 per cent raise over three years for CRA workers.

However, PSAC wouldn’t clarify its current wage demands on Wednesday.

“These workers are not making six figures. They’re not senior executives,” Aylward said, again repeating that most are women who make between $40,000 and $65,000 annually, a claim the government has disputed.

Any wage increase would cover the past two years, in addition to 2023, as each group of workers has been without a collective agreement since 2021.

Mona Fortier, president of the Treasury Board and the Liberal MP for Ottawa—Vanier, said she was “frustrated” by the union’s “unreasonable and unaffordable” wage demand.

“We remain at the negotiating table,” Fortier said in a statement. “The sooner the PSAC is ready to make real progress, the sooner we can deliver wage increases for our employees and end this strike.”

Meanwhile, Aylward accused the government of “stalling” negotiations.

Besides a wage increase, the union has pushed for the right to work from home for those with jobs that can accommodate telework, along with less outsourcing and an increased emphasis on seniority, among other demands.

When asked whether the union would accept the government’s offer of a nine per cent raise over three years if all other asks were met, Aylward said, “No. Next question?”

The work stoppage, which the union has said involves more than 100,000 workers, has caused disruptions across various areas of government, resulting in a pause on most domestic passport processing just before summer and CRA delays at the tail end of tax season.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a softer approach when asked about the strike.

“It’s frustrating to know that Canadians may, as the days come, have more difficulty accessing services, but that’s a motivator for everyone to try and resolve this,” he said, adding that “progress was being made.”

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