REGISTER TODAY FOR PSAC-UTE STRIKE VOTES
When Canadians needed us most during the pandemic, we delivered – processing nearly 30 million Canada Emergency Response Benefit applications and providing historic financial relief to millions of people hardest hit by COVID-19 while most of our members worked from home.
But the Canada Revenue Agency has shown a complete lack of respect for workers at the bargaining table by rejecting or ignoring every single one of our proposals on our most important issues, and you deserve better.
That’s why we’ve made the difficult decision to hold strike votes for our 35,000 hard-working members at Canada Revenue Agency from January 31 to April 7, 2023.
We need to hold the line on fair wages so that you aren’t left behind as the cost of living and inflation remains sky-high. We believe in good, secure public service jobs and need to put an end to contracting out at CRA. We’re pushing for protections against evening, weekend, and shift work. And we’ll continue to fight to enshrine remote work and the right to disconnect in our collective agreements for better work-life balance.
These aren’t unreasonable demands, and many of these improvements have already been agreed to by other federal employers since we settled our last contract. We provided the Agency with our wage proposal for fair wages in July, but despite having had numerous opportunities at the bargaining table, CRA never provided their counteroffer, and we simply can’t wait anymore.
To add insult to injury, the government imposed a flawed hybrid work plan on federal public service workers just days before the holidays, despite the fact we’re negotiating remote work at the table and that we’ve continued to serve Canadians effectively whether we’re working from home or the workplace.
You deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. The Agency’s stalling tactics and major concessions in bargaining are unacceptable, and are hurting our members and their families. That’s why we need the support of our more than 35,000 PSAC-UTE members. A strong strike mandate doesn’t automatically mean we'll call a strike. But it shows CRA that we're prepared to fight for a fair contract, and it’s the strongest tool we have to put pressure on the government to reach a deal.
Canada Revenue Agency has made a habit of dragging their feet through bargaining, leaving workers without a contract for three or four years at a time. It’s already been one year since our last agreement expired, and it’s starting to feel like Groundhog Day, so we need to put a stop to it because we can't wait another four years. Enough is enough.
Tax season is coming up, and it’s our best chance to take advantage of our bargaining power to win a fair contract. Going on strike is never our first choice. But securing a strong strike mandate from our membership will give us the leverage we need to reach a fair and decent contract. And if we need to take job action to get the collective agreement you deserve, then that’s exactly what we’ll do.
Together, we have the strength in numbers to fight for a contract that makes real gains for our members. This is our opportunity to make a meaningful difference in our workplaces, and we strongly urge you to vote in favour of a strike mandate. To give you as many opportunities as possible to participate in strike votes, we’ll be holding strike information sessions both in-person and virtually.
Your voting credentials will be sent to you by email or regular mail. You will need these credentials to register for a strike vote session. If you haven't received your voting credentials from PSAC by email or mail by January 31, you may need to update your contact information before you can register to vote.