The union representing tens of thousands of federal public servants across the country will be giving an update on its negotiations with the Treasury Board.
The national strike for more than 155,000 federal public servants under the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) began at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
Over the course of the strike, picket lines formed across the country while some government services — including taxes, passports and immigration — were disrupted.
Two PSAC groups were striking: a larger Treasury Board group of more than 120,000 workers across several government departments and agencies, and a smaller tax group of more than 35,000 workers at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
About 110,000 to 120,000 PSAC members were eligible to walk off the job after factoring out staff doing work designated as essential, such as employment insurance or pensions.
How did we get here?
Contracts for both groups expired in 2021. Negotiations between the federal government and PSAC’s two groups each began in 2021, but the union declared an impasse with each unit last year.
PSAC had previously asked for a 4.5 per cent raise each year for 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The most recent public offer from the government to each group was a nine per cent raise over three years, a total that matched recommendations from the third-party Public Interest Commission.
The union also focused its message on remote work rules.
