More than 120,000 federal public servants voted in favour of a countrywide strike mandate this week — and their union has made clear that wages are top of mind as it mulls whether to launch the potential job action. Another 35,000 from the Canada Revenue Agency voted for a strike mandate last week.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada and the federal government have been at the bargaining table since June 2021. After a protracted impasse, during which both parties filed labour complaints against each other, the two began mediated negotiations early this month.
The union's demands have shifted over time, and neither party says it is willing to discuss the details of the ongoing negotiations publicly. It is also a standard bargaining tactic for parties to ask for more, or offer less, than they are expecting in the completed agreement.
But a brief to the Public Interest Commission last November sheds light on what the union was asking for at that time. Here are some of the items that were on the table.
Wage increases: The union said it wants to see a 4.5 per cent wage increase every year for the next three years, due to inflation and the rising cost of living, amounting to a 13.5 per cent total increase. The Treasury Board has reached several wage increase agreements with other agencies in the last year. For example, the Canadian Armed Forces will see a compounded increase of 10.4 per cent over the next four years and the Association of Canadian Financial Officers will see...
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