Trudeau Calls on Unions to ‘Get Back to the Bargaining Table,’ as Federal Workers Strike

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters ahead of a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on April 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

The unions representing 155,000 federal employees currently on strike across the country need to “get back to the bargaining table” in order to avoid further public service disruptions, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“We need both management and labour to get back to the bargaining table as soon as possible and continue to make progress,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on April 19.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) represents approximately 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) employees and over 120,000 federal Treasury Board employees—all of whom are partaking in a national general strike as the union demands wage increases along with other conditions for the workers.

Reporters asked Trudeau if PSAC has actively been at the bargaining table this week.

“They have been, they have not been,” Trudeau replied. “Right now, they need to get back.”

Chris Aylward, the union’s national president, has said PSAC is seeking a 13.5 percent wage increase over three years for the federal employees currently on strike. He adds that inflation over that same three-year period is 13.8 percent.

“It’s only fair that at least workers in this country will keep up with the rate of inflation,” he said at a strike protest in Ottawa on April 19.

Wage Offers

Both the CRA and the Treasury Board have said they offered PSAC a 9-percent wage increase over three years for the employees that the union represents.

However, the CRA said PSAC rejected the offer and countered it by demanding a 22.5-percent wage hike for the employees over the course of three years, which it said included a market adjustment of 2 percent.

The Treasury Board also said on April 18 that PSAC “continues to insist on demands that are unaffordable and would severely impact the Government’s ability to deliver services to Canadians.”

Treasury Board President Mona Fortier told reporters on April 19 that she “cannot stress enough how disappointing” PSAC’s decision to call a strike is for her department.

“Based on the progress we’ve made at the negotiating table, this is not where we should be,” she said, adding that Ottawa was “able to resolve a number of issues through mediation” with the union during the weeks leading up to the strike.

“We recognize and respect employees’ rights to strike, but when a good offer is on the table and there is a genuine commitment to compromise, the focus should be on negotiation,” she said.

Social Development Minister Karina Gould also commented on the strikes, saying that a “prolonged labour disruption” will cause significant backlogs in passport applications—which have already seen long processing delays over the past year.

“We’re going to have to see how this goes,” Gould said, adding that if the strike ends soon, it will not have a “big impact” on service delivery.

“However, if it goes on for quite some significant period of time, then it will,” she said.