Canada’s largest public service union will hold a strike vote for 120,000 federal workers to back demands for a new contract. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) announced that it will hold strike votes for its members in the Program and Administrative Services (PA), Technical Services (TC), and Education and Library Science (EB) bargaining groups, with the vote being held between Nov. 16 and Jan. 22. In a media release, PSAC said the strike vote is in response to the Treasury Board of Canada’s “insulting wage proposal, push for concessions and refusal to address critical workplace issues.” PSAC declared an impasse in contract talks between its groups and the Treasury Board last winter and spring. In February, PSAC declared an impasse in contract talks between its PA Group and the Treasury Board. “We want to negotiate a fair deal, but by pushing pay cuts and refusing to discuss any of our key issues, Treasury Board has given us no choice but to take strike votes,” said Sharon DeSousa, PSAC national president. “Federal public service workers are the backbone of this country: protecting communities, supporting veterans, responding when disaster strikes, and delivering the benefits people rely on every day. We will not let this government find its budget savings on the backs of workers.” According to PSAC’s website, the union is seeking a raise of 4.75 per cent a year for three years as part of the contract. PSAC said the government’s contract offer included a two per cent raise in 2025, followed by 0.5 per cent raises in 2026, 2027 and 2028. The union said the federal government’s wage offer “averages less than one per cent – a pay increase of just $58 per month over the life of the agreement.” “That’s a clear pay cut for workers who continue to absorb rising costs for food, rent, transportation, childcare, and other essentials while their wages move in the opposite direction,” PSAC said in a media release. PSAC also says the federal government is pushing “several concessions that would significantly weaken workers” rights, including “removing workforce adjustment and the dental care plan from collective bargaining” and “expanding the normal daily work-hour window, allowing management to schedule workers at unusual hours without providing additional compensation.” More than 120,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada went on strike between April 19 and May 3, 2023, to back demands for a new contract.
