The federal government hopes for a return to normal as soon as possible after finding common ground with 120,000 of its officials, while negotiations continue with 35,000 tax employees.
The President of the Treasury Board of Canada, Mona Fortier, confirmed Monday the signing, late at night, of tentative agreements with 120,000 public servants in four bargaining units.
- Via listen to Francis Snyder, Union President of the PSAC-UTE local in Montreal, who is still waiting for a tentative agreement:
The latter will benefit from base salary increases of 11.5% over four years and a lump sum of $2,500, or 12.6% taking into account various other salary adjustments.
This outcome puts an end to one of the largest strikes in the country’s history, when employees were expected to work according to their usual schedule on Monday morning.
- Listen to the economic column with Yves Daoust, director of the Money section of the Journal de Montréal and the Journal de Québec at the microphone of Richard Martineau via QUB-radio:
Impossibility of obtaining a passport, saturated call centers, accumulation of visa applications, many services have been operating at reduced service since the start of the strike on April 19.
tax strike
“We will resume our normal activities as quickly as possible. We will be able to assess where we are and, we hope, be able to get back on track quickly, ”said Mona Fortier, without being able to offer a status report on the delivery of the various federal services.
However, the walkout continued on Monday for 35,000 workers at the Canada Revenue Agency with whom no agreement has yet been reached.
“We have a process where they chose to take a break while we, the Treasury Board, were negotiating with the four groups under the central administration,” explained Ms. Fortier.
“The good news, [c’est qu’ils] are back at the table, they work very hard. What I anticipate is a possibility of having good news soon, ”she said, while recalling that her ministry is not involved in the talks.
half the cost
Initially, union members negotiating with the Treasury Board demanded wage increases of 13.5% over three years, against 9.25 for the government.
“This agreement represents less than half the cost of the initial claims of the [syndicat] and is estimated at $1.3 billion per year,” Ms. Fortier revealed, speaking of a “fair and reasonable” compromise for employees and tax payers.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefly commented on the case, welcoming that the result of the negotiations “seems to work”.
“These tentative agreements represent significant gains for our members and set the bar for all workers in the country,” said Chris Aylward, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).
Among other highlights, a letter of intent on telework was concluded, in order to revise the directive on this subject, which dates from 1993.
However, it is not enshrined in collective agreements and civil servants will have to continue to work at least two days a week in the office until further notice, specified Ms. Fortier.
A mechanism has also been provided for settling telework requests on a case-by-case basis.
On the other hand, Indigenous public servants will have access to one day’s paid leave to participate in traditional Indigenous practices such as hunting and fishing.
According to Ottawa, paid leave for family responsibilities has also been improved.