Officials will receive pay rises and other improvements within the agreed timeframe, the Treasury Department said in a statement. (Photo: The Canadian Press)
OTTAWA — Ottawa has ratified the collective agreements of several thousand federal employees, the Treasury Department and the Canada Revenue Agency announced on Friday.
Around 177,000 employees will be affected by these agreements, which will be signed in the coming days.
On the Treasury Board side, agreements are being renewed with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), Local 104 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officials (PAFSE).
These unions represent 138,000 civil servants working in administration, translation, technical services and business, and 911 operators.
Officials will receive pay rises and other improvements within the agreed timeframe, the Treasury Department said in a statement. The PSAC adds that the department has 180 days from signing to apply the new pay rates and pay the retrospective salary.
“I am very pleased that we were able to renew the collective agreements of 66% of all civil servants represented,” Treasury President Mona Fortier said in a press release.
In fact, out of 28 collective agreements, 10 have now been approved and 16 other units are in the negotiation process. In addition, there are two entities for which no agreement has been reached since the 2018 round of negotiations.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is renewing the agreement for the 39,000 employees of the Public Service Alliance of Canada – Union of Taxation Employees (PSAC-UTE).
It will be signed on Tuesday and covers the period from 2021 to 2025. Here, too, the provisions and remuneration apply retrospectively.
These federal civil servants and tax workers went on strike in April, making it one of the largest strikes in the country.
The main points of contention were salary and teleworking. When its members ratified the agreements in May and June, the PSAC believed it had made important progress on both counts.
It spoke of “cumulative increases totaling 12.6% over four years” for the years 2021 to 2024.
Regarding telecommuting — a key issue in both federal and provincial public services and many private companies — the PSAC felt it had received “the best protection in the country.”