The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has entered a new phase of negotiations with Treasury Board, representing over 120,000 of its members. This new push comes on the heels of the recently passed federal budget. In addition to money, the budget proposed major amendments to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act. The suggested amendments aim straight for the heart of government initiatives to recruit and retain critical talent. They intend to better reflect Canadian labor market trends in public sector compensation and the government’s fiscal limits.
The federal budget was installed on a Tuesday and has already faced intense backlash from union leaders. Former budgetary clarity Alex Silas, PSAC’s national executive vice president, slammed the budget for what he described as “smoke-and-mirrors.” He said, “The …federal government has not announced a plan to us. To his credit, he made this known in no uncertain terms. He fears that the budget language is a signal that public sector workers are going to get shorted in negotiations.
In August, Air Canada flight attendants initiated a strike. In a shocking reversal, the feds soon moved to disrupt that situation by invoking Section 107 to impose binding arbitration and end the strike quickly. Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, insisted that public servants “do not deserve to be scapegoats for the country’s deficit.” He continued, “If government really wants to begin discussing its own fiscal crisis that it created, then we’re not going to take that being used as justification for making our conditions worse.”
Benoit Mayrand, spokesperson for the Department of Finance, clarified that the proposed amendments do not “directly” limit wage increases but rather aim to frame compensation within the context of fiscal responsibility. The government emphasizes that public sector compensation must be in line with labor market trends while considering its fiscal realities.
Even with these reassurances, both Prier and Silas are still unconvinced. Silas had cautioned that Prime Minister Mark Carney would not be able to counteract that with his lack of experience sparring with unions. He warned Carney “to learn fast” that his policies will undermine workers’ rights. He famously proclaimed that the federal public service was “being blown up.” If he thinks he can roll over workers’ rights, we will oppose him tooth-and-nail until the last breath to defend them.
While negotiations are stated to still be in-progress, there is a very real concern about how this multitude of amendments will complicate collective bargaining. Silas indicated that legal recourse could become a viable option if discussions do not yield favorable outcomes for union members.
