Ottawa ‘disappointed’ after union announces strike votes for 120,000 workers

Ottawa has expressed disappointment following Canada's largest federal public service union's announcement of strike votes for 120,000 workers. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) revealed that voting will occur from November 16 to January 22. For the past 18 months, the union and Treasury Board have been engaged in contract negotiations, and in May, PSAC deemed a government wage offer of less than one percent per year as "insulting."

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat has voiced its disappointment with the union's decision to proceed with a strike vote while the two groups are still in the mediation process. The government asserts that over the past year and a half, it has engaged with the union on all its proposals, and recent mediation sessions led to progress on certain points.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat respects the right to strike but emphasizes that the best agreements are typically reached at the bargaining table.