Federal Workers With Strike Mandate Demand Social Justice Fund, Diversity Training

Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) demonstrate outside the Treasury Board building in Ottawa on March 31, 2023. (The Canadian Press/ Patrick Doyle)

As more than 120,000 federal public servants across the country prepare for a potential strike, their union is asking for non-wage benefits such as employer contributions to its Social Justice Fund, mandatory diversity and inclusion training, and shift premiums for working past 4 p.m.

On April 12, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) announced that its members had voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of a strike mandate in nationwide strike votes that took place from Feb. 22 to April 11.

According to an analysis of PSAC’s demands by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), released April 13, the union’s “program and administrative services” bargaining unit, a group of 97,000 employees, is seeking a 29 percent compounded compensation increase over three years, at a 9 percent increase each year.

According to the document “Public Interest Commission Brief of the Public Service Alliance of Canada,” issued in late 2022, the PSAC is also seeking employer contributions to its Social Justice Fund. The fund engages in “promotion of the right to decent work, quality public services, human rights and equity,” according to the union’s website.

“The Employer shall contribute one cent (1¢) per hour worked to the PSAC Social Justice Fund and such a contribution will be made for all hours worked by each employee in the bargaining unit,” the brief states.

According to the union’s website, “Through education, mobilization and empowerment, PSAC’s Social Justice Fund works to advance the role of our members in building more equitable and sustainable communities in Canada and the around the world.”

The CTF calculated that if all of the 97,000 employees in the bargaining group were to work 40 hours per week, for 50 weeks of the year, that would mean Canadian taxpayers would spend nearly $2 million in annual contributions to the fund.

To promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace, PSAC is asking for all employees and managers to be given mandatory instructor-led, interactive training on diversity and inclusion, employment equity, unconscious bias, and implementation of Call to Action #57 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The call to action states that all federal public servants have a duty to learn about the history and reality of indigenous Canadians.

“Implementing mandatory diversity and inclusion training could ultimately help foster a more diverse workplace,” the brief states. “As the country’s largest employer, the Federal Public Service has an obligation to ensure that its employees are representative of the people it serves.”

In addition, PSAC is asking for five extra paid days off for “self-identified Indigenous” employees to engage in traditional cultural practices like “hunting, fishing (and) harvesting.”

PSAC is also asking for a $2.50-per-hour shift premium whenever members work past 4 p.m. According to the brief, employees working weekend shifts would receive an additional $2.50 per hour for all hours worked, including overtime hours.

PSAC negotiators are also pushing for an education fund for laid-off members that can be used for post-secondary tuition costs. This would amount to up to $17,000 for “reimbursement of receipted expenses of an opting employee for tuition from a learning institution and costs of books and relevant equipment.”

In a statement to the Epoch Times, PSAC said its demands are “constantly evolving” and have been “trimmed throughout the course of bargaining and will continue to as we negotiate a fair contract for our members.”

PSAC added that it will not disclose the current state of demands on either side until a tentative agreement has been reached.

Other Demands

The CTF had previously reported on other non-wage benefits PSAC is seeking, including increasing paid leave for family-related responsibilities from 37.5 hours to 75 hours annually; four weeks of automatic vacation leave after four years of service instead of seven; increased eligibility for several allowances and premiums; and all overtime to be paid at double-time, where currently it is most often paid at time-and-a-half.

On April 12, PSAC President Chris Aylward said during a press conference that its members are “feeling squeezed” by the rising cost of living. He said that many members, who make between $40,000 and $65,000 a year, have been “falling into debt and making sacrifices just to make ends meet.”

But the CTF reported that federal employees already have a 9.4 percent wage premium over their private-sector counterparts, citing a 2020 Fraser Institute report, as well as an advantage when it comes to non-wage benefits like time off for personal reasons, retirement ages, pension plan coverage, and job security.

Additionally, it cited an April report from the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Office which said that the average compensation for full-time federal workers was $125,300 in 2021–22, while the average Canadian salary was around $59,000 per year in September 2022.

CTF’s federal director Franco Terrazzano said that most Canadians would be “laughed out of the room” if they asked their employers for similar benefits.

“These demands prove that government union negotiators are trying to milk taxpayers. The federal government has to draw a line and say no to out-of-touch union demands,” he said in the April 13 analysis report.