Federal workers press for agreement

Continuing tension over beleaguered Phoenix Pay System and ongoing contract dispute

After three years of frustrating pay disputes resulting from the Phoenix Pay system, P.E.I. civil service workers say they are embroiled in a bitter contract dispute with the federal government.

Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) gathered at the corner of Allen Street and University Avenue on Thursday afternoon to call for movement in their collective bargaining talks.

The rally was organized by the P.E.I. Young Workers Committee and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). About 50-60 people turned out for the rally, waving union placards and flags.

Colleen Coffey, vice-president of PSAC’s Atlantic counsel, is disappointed at the lack of respect the Treasury Board is showing its workers.

“Sometimes we sit there for days, and they don’t even come to the table,” she said.

Recently, one group met with the board for three days, but employers only sat down to talk for three hours and 33 minutes, she said.

“That is totally disrespectful.” The PSAC and the Federal Treasury Board are currently in negotiations over a collective agreement that would cover 90,000 federal government workers across Canada. The two sides have been meeting since last June in hopes of negotiating the collective agreement. Union negotiators say the process has been delayed and are urging federal negotiators to return to the bargaining table.

The negotiations come in the midst of continuing tension over the beleaguered Phoenix Pay System. The system regulates the wages of over 200,000 federal workers but has resulted in thousands of workers being underpaid, overpaid or even not paid at all.

The union says software has cost the federal government at least $1 billion and has posed hardship for the financial security of half of all federal workers nationwide.

Sandra Arsenault, an employee at the P.E.I. Tax Centre in Summerside, says delays and errors in her pay have resulted in her savings being depleted. She has had multiple errors in her pay since 2016. First, she was not paid for three months. Then she was overpaid and had to pay back her employer.

The end result has been missed vacations and a lack of financial certainty.

Arsenault estimated most of her co-workers at the tax centre have experienced issues with their pay.

“We’ve had people that went and found another job because they weren’t getting paid,” Arsenault said.

In a media statement sent in September, a representative told The Guardian the federal government has been working diligently to replace the Phoenix Pay System.

“We are continuing to take action on all fronts to resolve pay issues and stabilize the pay system, including as appropriate at the negotiation table. In addition to these critical stabilization efforts,” read the statement.

“Ongoing stabilization of the Phoenix Pay System remains a top priority for the government and Public Services and Procurement Canada is working tirelessly towards this goal while Treasury Board Secretariat develops options for a next generation system to eventually replace Phoenix.”