PSAC calls for 3.75% annual salary increase and Phoenix compensation plan

The largest public service union in the country wants the federal government to compensate its members for the pain and suffering caused by the Phoenix salary fiasco.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada has resumed negotiations with Treasury Board officials on a new three-year contract for 90,000 public servants.

The union has asked for a 3.75% wage increase in each of these three years, as well as a Phoenix compensation program and a public inquiry into the implementation of the compensation system plagued by problems in 2016.

"We are seeking to recognize that virtually all employees have been affected by the Phoenix compensation fiasco," said Greg McGillis, Regional Executive Vice President, National Capital Region.

One symptom of this fiasco, he said, is the fact that any negotiated wage increase is likely to add to the backlog of payroll complaints.

Last year, more than 8,000 new compensation complaints were generated when the government introduced a dozen new collective agreements.

"It highlights the fact that everything is at stake with Phoenix," said McGillis, adding, "It is unlikely that Phoenix will work perfectly."

Officials at the federal pay center, he says, are now jury solutions using Excel spreadsheets and bits of computer code: "These solutions are not practical and that's one of the reasons it's so difficult to clear the backlog. It does not appear that the system can be modified. "

According to its own polls, the PSAC estimates that 90% of federal employees have been victims of errors in their paychecks: overpayments, underpayments and other errors.

Last month, the Auditor General, Michael Ferguson, released a report that 187,000 public servants from 46 departments and agencies had received outstanding claims in June 2018. (A total of 101 federal departments and agencies are using Phoenix .) The number of affected workers has skyrocketed since March 2016, when 54,000 such pay requests were in the system.

ALSO: Phoenix Pay: PSAC members may see a change in union dues this week as system backlog decreases

The federal public service has 273,000 employees, approximately 41% of whom work in the National Capital Region.

Ferguson said Phoenix's situation has not improved in the last year. A sampling of payroll done by his office revealed that 58% of employees had reported errors in their paychecks during the 2017-2018 fiscal year, up from 51% the year before.

In a previous report, Ferguson had referred to the mistakes that had led to Phoenix: a small management team from Public Services and Procurement Canada failed to obtain independent advice, paid little attention to the concerns end users, ignored the growing risks and chose to remove key software. system functions in the face of increasing costs. They also did not test the system as a whole.

McGillis said that PSAC members have been traumatized by the debacle and often refuse to change jobs, lest their salary be interrupted. This is an important issue for public servants traveling from one province to another.

"Changing from Gatineau to Ottawa is now a big problem," he said.

McGillis would not discuss the type of compensation that the PSAC wants from the government.

A spokesperson for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat said the government is exploring the issue of compensation for employees affected by Phoenix. "Canadian public servants deserve to be paid properly and in time for their important work, and we are taking action on all fronts to address these compensation issues," said Martin Potvin.

The government, he said, wants to reach timely and fair agreements for employees and taxpayers, but declined to comment further on the negotiations "out of respect for the collective bargaining process".

An official, Sebastien Critchley, told this newspaper that she was "completely discouraged" after more than two years of pay problems. "I sat at my desk crying yesterday," she said on Tuesday. "I do not have more emotional energy to handle it."

Critchley, a payment services officer with Service Canada in Edmonton, has suffered from a series of overpayments and overpayments since April 2016. She felt the problem had been solved in recent months until the end of the year. Arrival of his last pay check with a $ 268.44.

Critchley had worked 30 hours during the pay period and had a check for more than $ 920.

"I hate the fact that I have to take time out of my job or my family to try to solve this problem," she said. "I think it's reasonable to expect my employer to pay me accurately and on time."

PSAC bargaining teams are currently negotiating collective agreements for four groups of employees: program and administrative services, technical services, operational services, and education and library services. This week's negotiations will focus on specific proposals for each of the four groups. The common problems will be dealt with during the sessions planned next week.

McGillis said the union would also ask the government to solve the problems badociated with what it calls its "mbadive army" of temporary workers.

Government statistics show that about 13% of the federal workforce has a temporary or occasional activity.

The PSAC believes that the current number is considerably higher and McGillis said that if nothing had been done, tens of thousands of federal employees would never benefit from social benefits, union protection or job security.

ALSO IN THE NEWS

Employee accused of arson after fire destroyed Lincoln Fields restaurant Wendy

A homicide victim, the other a murderer twice

Despite questions about the deal, senior officials have blessed the supply ship at the heart of the Mark Norman affair as a good value