TORONTO – An average of 23,000 more dollars in the pockets of federal public employees by the end of the agreement (therefore by 2024) which ended the strike of over 155,000 workers in recent days: a clear victory for PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada), the union that cornered the federal government, wresting excellent contractual conditions from the Treasury Board and the Canada Revenue Agency for its members.

“Strike action greatly improves the final wage offer and other benefits” the PSAC said in letters sent to union members on Sunday.

The union says that for PSAC members in the Program and Administrative Services, Education and Library Science Group, Technical Services, and Operational Services groups, a 12.6 percent pay raise (as mandated by the agreement) will add an average of $8,473 to the base salary by 2024. PSAC then says that if you add up the annual salary increases, along with the $2,500 lump sum payment, the average PSAC member will receive an additional $23,000 over the four-year agreement (based on a member’s average salary of the Treasury Board of $67,305). According to the graph published by the PSAC, the average salary will therefore increase from $67,305 to $75,777 in 2024.

PSAC says that for Tax Union members, however, a 12.6 percent pay raise would add an average of $8,559 to the base salary by 2024. The annual pay raises, along with the $2,500 lump sum payment, would give the average employee an additional $23,000 over the four years (based on an average salary of $68,000), also according to the union.

PSAC also says the new contracts for Treasury Board and Canada Revenue Agency employees provide “the strongest remote work protection in the federal public service”. The parties have indeed agreed to improvements in remote working through a “letter of agreement that prepares us to win full victory in our next contract. PSAC members will now be protected from arbitrary decisions on remote working. Managers will have to evaluate the requests work remotely individually, not by group, and provide written responses that will enable members and the PSAC to hold the employer accountable to fair decision-making”, the union stresses. “The Government of Canada remains committed to a modern, hybrid workplace that provides employees, where applicable, with the flexibility to continue working up to three days a week from home”.

Finally, the Public Service Alliance of Canada recalls that the interim agreements also include “additional salary increases and benefits for specific negotiating tables”, as well as an increase in bonuses for shifts and weekends from $2.00 to $2.25l now, protection for federal government employees in the event of layoffs (at the expense of outside contractors) and “significant improvements” to vacation, shift pay and other severance pay. In short: for the union, a victory on all fronts.

In the pic above, PSAC leader Chris Aylward (photo from Twitter – @SharonDPSAC)