The union is in a “unique and challenging situation” because it can’t go on strike
Alex Silas of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) says that hundreds of workers who help the Parliamentary precinct run are treated like “second-class” citizens.Experts say union negotiators could have a hard time if they can’t go on strike.
Six bargaining units, which represent workers at the House of Commons, the Senate, the Library of Parliament, and the Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS), have reached a stalemate with their employer and will take their dispute to arbitration.
“To be blunt, there’s not enough going on. Silas, who is in charge of the National Capital Region, said that there wasn’t enough movement.”Some of these units haven’t had a contract since the year 2020. So, this is how long the talks have been going on.”
The union has different demands, but one of them is for an economic package similar to the one that PSAC and the Treasury Board signed after a nine-day strike that was one of the biggest in Canadian history.
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Silas said that many of the affected employees have similar jobs to others but don’t have the same working conditions. This is because many of them couldn’t work from home during the pandemic and the 2022 truck convoy protest.
He said, “This is a group of workers who haven’t gotten any compensation for Phoenix yet, even though there’s proof that they’ve been through just as much financial stress as every other federal worker.”
- Phoenix’s pay problems haven’t gone away even though the compensation plan has ended.
Negotiators have also asked that PPS members who do safety checks at public buildings have access to the same radio equipment as members who patrol and protect the grounds.
Jean-Michel Lavergne, the head of the union that represents workers at the Library of Parliament, said that his members are being paid wages that were negotiated for contracts that ran out in 2020, before prices around the world went up.
“We don’t see why the government of Canada couldn’t offer the same deal to us workers on Parliament Hill if they gave a deal to our colleagues at Treasury Board,” he said.
CBC asked the government to respond to what PSAC had said.The director of communications for the House of Commons, Amélie Crosson, would only say that the government “does not comment on ongoing negotiations.”
Experts say that arbitration takes away public pressure
In contrast to PSAC members who work for the Treasury Board and the Canada Revenue Agency, these workers are covered by theFederal Public Sector Labor Relations ActAnd have no choice but to strike.
Silas said that this makes the situation for union negotiators “unique and hard.”
Barry Eidlin, an expert on work, agrees.
“You might get a sympathetic arbitrator if you’re lucky,” he said, “but their experience usually makes them more in touch with management.”
“They have much more experience dealing with contracts and managing people than with the day-to-day challenges of being a security officer or something like that.”
Alison Braley-Rattai, an expert on labor relations at Brock University, said that when workers can’t demonstrate in public, they lose their voice.
“You can’t put that kind of pressure on yourself anymore,” she said. “That’s kind of the key thing that you can’t always make up for by just letting everyone know about the problems you’re having negotiating.”
She said that going on strike can lead to big changes, while arbitration “tends to be fairly conservative.”
Eidlin also said that the process can take longer, which usually helps the employer.
“Conflict” in the labor movemen
Braley-Rattai also said that arbitrators often use the “comparator principle” to figure out what’s fair. This is when they compare a possible deal to ones reached with workers who do similar jobs.
That can cut both ways.
In a broader sense, Eidlin said that workers’ desire for action seems to be growing, which is creating a “combative mood.”
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In recent years, wages and working conditions have gotten worse, and “pent-up frustrations have been crystallized by the pandemic,” he said. This, along with a tight job market, makes people feel confident in their ability to fight.
During the recent strike by government workers, it all came to a head when some members got together to reject the deal that was reached.
“We’ve seen, especially this year, that the public sector is not immune to workplace conflict…and rising worker expectations.”