In the event of a strike in the federal public service, which risks being called as early as Wednesday, the Trudeau government can forget its NDP partner if it intends to force a return to work, warns Chief Jagmeet Singh.
” I told him [au premier ministre Justin Trudeau] : “you can never count on us for a vote on the return to work”. We have already said that it is something that we will never support, ”said Mr. Singh during a press briefing in Ottawa on Tuesday morning.
Even in the hypothetical scenario where the government makes the issue a vote of confidence in parliament in the future, the New Democratic Party (NDP) will oppose it, the leader of the fourth party in the Commons has warned.
The NDP, however, agreed last year with the Liberal Party of Canada to keep it in power until 2025, and to vote with the government in all important votes. In theory, this includes those in which the government puts the confidence of Parliament at stake, that is to say those which risk plunging the country into an electoral campaign.
Jagmeet Singh, who shows his sympathy for the demands of federal officials, claims to have already warned his liberal partner that this clause of the agreement specifically excludes any law forcing a return to work.
“We said from the start of the negotiations [que] it’s not on the table. […] This is not acceptable to us. We are the party of workers, we would never support such a bill, ”he said.
Since it is in a minority situation, the Liberal government in Ottawa must obtain the support of at least one opposition party to pass any legislation.
Possible strike from Wednesday
The main union representing federal public servants, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), is threatening the government to call a strike as early as Wednesday, April 19, if no agreement is reached before 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Discussions with the federal government were still continuing on Tuesday afternoon. “I will make sure that the two parties at the negotiating table continue their work with great intensity to be able to resolve this issue,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.
On the government side, negotiations are led by the Treasury Board of Canada. Its president, MNA Mona Fortier, did not immediately rule out a back-to-work law in the event of a failure of negotiations.
“We are currently in negotiations. We are being at the table. So when we have the negotiated elements, we can share with the media and the public where we left off. Everything changes, every hour,” she told the Duty late Tuesday afternoon, a few hours before the ultimatum issued by the union.
Difficulties ahead for tax season
The AFCP represents 120,000 civil servants working in the various federal departments, and 35,000 union members of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). In the event of a strike in the middle of tax season, it is possible that the processing of tax returns will be delayed and that taxpayers will not be able to reach the CRA by telephone, warns the union. Negotiations are mainly stumbling over the issues of wages and telework.
National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier said a “contingency plan” is in place to prepare for the strike. According to the union, about 1,500 union members of the Revenue Agency are considered essential, and will not be able to take time off from their jobs.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser has also assured that the operations of his department will not be stopped, and that a small contingent of employees will be responsible for processing the most urgent immigration files.
Under the agreement between the Liberal Party and the NDP, the government has committed to introduce by the end of 2023 a bill to ban “scabs” for employees under federal jurisdiction. A similar law already exists in Quebec.