Over 120,000 striking federal government employees are expected to return to work starting Monday morning (May 1) after reaching tentative agreements overnight.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) announced after midnight Monday it had reached tentative agreements for workers in four bargaining units who negotiate with the federal Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
Among others, the deal covers thousands of workers with the federal agriculture department and related agencies such as the Canadian Grain Commission, Canadian Dairy Commission and Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency.
Affected units, whose separate collective agreements all expired in the summer of 2021, include:
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- program and administrative services, whose 99,000-odd workers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and other federal departments administer programs and handle communications and information services;
- technical services, whose 10,500-odd workers include Canadian Grain Commission employees handling primary product inspections, among other technical and scientific staff;
- educational and library services (about 1,100 workers) and
- operational services (about 10,000 workers), in charge of operating federal buildings and services.
PSAC said its bargaining teams will recommend that workers vote to ratify the tentative agreement. A “full explanation” of the agreements will be provided “in the coming days” once they’ve been translated, after which PSAC members would decide whether to ratify the deal in online voting.
“During a period of record-high inflation and soaring corporate profits, workers were told to accept less — but our members came together and fought for better,” Chris Aylward, PSAC national president, said in a release early Monday. “This agreement delivers important gains for our members that will set the bar for all workers in Canada.”
The federal Treasury Board Secretariat had said in a separate statement Saturday that its negotiators on Friday had tabled “a final updated comprehensive offer that addresses all remaining PSAC demands.”
Affected workers have been on strike since April 19, leading Canadian ag groups to express concern over resulting service disruptions, particularly those affecting grain transportation.
Employees with the affected Treasury Board units are now required to return to work beginning Monday morning at 9 a.m. ET, or on their next scheduled shift after that date.
PSAC said Monday the tentative deal reached for Treasury Board units includes wage increases totaling 12.6 per cent compounded over the life of the agreement, running retroactively from 2021 and through 2024.
The union said it secured an additional fourth year in the agreement that “protects workers from inflation,” plus a $2,500 one-time lump sum payment.
PSAC said the deal also provides its Treasury Board members with “access to additional protection when subject to arbitrary decisions about remote work,” including a letter of agreement requiring managers to assess employees’ remote work requests individually, rather than by group.
The union said it has also negotiated language in the tentative deal to “ensure that in the event of layoffs, PSAC members will not lose their job if they can perform the duties of a contractor already working with the federal government.”
That language “will protect public service jobs and reduce contracting out in the federal public service,” PSAC said, reiterating its position that privatization and contracting out lead to “higher costs, more risk, and reduced quality of services for Canadians.”
Mona Fortier, the federal minister responsible for Treasury Board, said in a separate statement later Monday that “we respect the right to negotiate and appreciate Canadians’ patience and understanding over the past two weeks… These deals are fair, competitive and reasonable, and bring stability to public servants and Canadians.”
Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan later Monday tweeted congratulations to Treasury Board and PSAC officials for reaching their deal, saying “The best deals are made at the table.”
Strike action continues separately Monday for about 35,000 PSAC-represented federal employees at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). PSAC said in a separate statement early Monday that “key issues” remain in dispute for that bargaining unit, including wages, telework and job security.
CRA officials said in a release later Monday they and PSAC have now “resumed in-person negotiations with a view to reach a new collective agreement as soon as possible, that is both fair to employees and reasonable for taxpayers.”
PSAC also separately represents about 4,100 federal employees at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, whose collective agreement expired at the end of 2021. That bargaining unit in March declared an impasse in talks and filed for conciliation. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
