Union rally protests years of Phoenix pay troubles
Frustrated by four years of troubles with a flawed pay system, dozens of Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) workers gathered outside the Harry Hays Building in downtown Calgary to pressure the federal government to fairly compensate those affected and ensure employees are paid reliably.
The flawed Phoenix payroll system has continued to overpay, underpay or fail to pay to more than 200,000 federal public service workers since its introduction four years ago. While the Liberal government has offered five days of paid vacation as compensation for those affected, the union said they rallied Thursday at noon to ask for fair, cash compensation for all affected members to ensure all workers are treated equally.
“Phoenix has become the norm in the federal public service and, after four years, promises from the Liberal government that they are working on it are not enough,” said Marianne Hladun, PSAC regional executive vice-president for the
Prairie region.
“The government must invest in more staffing to reduce the number of Phoenix cases created each day, as well as to eliminate the massive backlog of pay problems.”
According to the union, 40,000 pay-related calls are made to the contact centre every month. A survey of public service employees last month showed that 74 per cent of workers experienced stress because of pay or other compensation-related issues, while 51 per cent said Phoenix affected their decision to seek or accept another position within the federal public service.
“Despite these staggering numbers, the government continues to only offer a meagre five days paid vacation as compensation,” said Hladun. “This offer is too little and unfairly rewards higher earners when cashed in. Federal public service workers deserve fair and equal compensation for the hardships the Phoenix fiasco has put them through and PSAC is prepared to fight until members get what they are owed, up to and including a strike.”
Cupcakes with decorations that read “I’m on strike alert,” were passed around the crowd of people rallying, along with cups of hot chocolate and PSAC signs and flags.
The bright signs were each personalized with handwritten notes that read, “Keep calm and be union strong,” “We continue to show up, Mr. Trudeau, when will you?” and “We respect the public, where’s our respect?”
Hladun said in a news release that many members have experienced debt, loss, bankruptcy and even homelessness because of the serious complications with the pay system.
“That a new pay system is not likely to be in place before 2023 leaves PSAC members wondering how concerned this government is about their employees’ welfare,” the news release said.
Earlier this month, the federal government launched a claims process for current and former public servants who have been seriously hurt by the pay system.
The Treasury Board Secretariat said the new process is part of a Phoenix damages agreement developed with the federal public service unions last June to compensate more than 140,000 people who worked in organizations using the pay system.