PSAC workers are in a “unique and difficult situation” because they can’t go on strike
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) says that hundreds of people who work to keep the parliamentary precinct running are treated like “second-class” citizens.
Experts say that 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. Alex Silas, the regional vice president of the PSAC for the National Capital Region, said, “Not 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.
Phoenix, work from home is being talked abou
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.
“This is a group of workers who haven’t been compensated for the Phoenix pay problems yet,” he said, “even though there’s proof that they’ve had just as much financial stress as every other federal worker.”
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.”
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Barry Eidlin, an expert on work, agrees.
“You could luck out and get a sympathetic arbitrator,” he said, but more often their experience makes them more in tune with management.
“They have much more experience dealing with contracts and managing people than they do the day-to-day challenges of being a security officer, or something like that.”
There’s also a loss of visibility when workers can’t demonstrate publicly, said Alison Braley-Rattai, a labour relations expert with Brock University.
“The ability to exert that kind of pressure itself is removed,” she said. “That’s kind of the important linchpin that you can’t necessarily make up for by simply advertising the problems that you are having with negotiating.”
Striking can lead to enormous breakthroughs, she said, while arbitration “tends to be fairly conservative.”
Eidlin said it can also be a longer process, which tends to benefit the employer.
‘Combative mood’ in labour movemen
Braley-Rattai also said the “comparator principle” — weighing a potential deal against those reached for workers with similar jobs — is a common part of the process for arbitrators to evaluate what’s fair.
That can cut both ways.
Speaking more broadly, Eidlin said the appetite for worker action appears to be growing and fostering a “combative mood.”
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The erosion of wages and working conditions in recent years has combined with “pent-up frustrations crystallized by the pandemic,” he said, combining with a tight labour market that gives people confidence in their ability to fight.
In the recent public servant strike, that culminated with some members rallying to reject the eventual deal.
“We’ve seen, particularly this year, that the public sector is not immune to workplace conflict … and rising worker expectations.”