The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CT) urged the federal government to reject the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s (PSAC) demands, which the CTF said are unaffordable and unsustainable.. Franco TerrazzanoFranco Terrazzano .“Canadians don’t feel sorry for the privileged bureaucrats on strike who took pay raises during the pandemic and never worry about losing their job,” said Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the CTF..“These bureaucrats are living a privileged life and now they want to take billions more from taxpayers who are worried about making their mortgage payments and struggling to afford gas and groceries.”.The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat said the PSAC demanded up to a 47% increase in compensation over three years, costing taxpayers $9.3 billion..During the COVID-19 pandemic, 312,825 employees, or more than 90% of federal employees, received at least one pay raise, and the federal government paid out a total of $559 million in bonuses since 2020..According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), the average compensation for each full-time federal employee, including pay, pension, and other benefits, is $125,300..“[Federal] personnel spending over the past two years increased by 30.9%,” according to the PBO..“The public service expanded by 31,227 full-time equivalents.”.“Taxpayers paid for hundreds of thousands of pay raises, hundreds of millions in bonuses and tens of thousands of new employees over the last few years and now bureaucrats are demanding billions more,” Terrazzano said..“Enough is enough. The government must reject PSAC’s unaffordable, unsustainable and out-of-touch demands.”.The PSAC also asked for non-wage benefits, including a special shift premium for working past 4 p.m., taxpayer-funded contributions to the PSAC Social Justice Fund to advocate “for progressive public policy,” a $17,000 education fund for laid-off members, increased paid leave for family responsibilities, and four weeks of automatic vacation after four years of service instead of after seven years..PSAC insisted on the right to work from home, which is one of the primary issues in the strike. However, workers showed up to picket in person at the building where they are supposed to work in person..The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) released a statement. It said it “has made every reasonable effort to avoid a labour disruption affecting important services that Canadians rely on, especially during tax season.”.PSAC-Union of Taxation Employees (PSAC-UTE) and CRA are still at the bargaining table and “despite some ongoing movement” on key issues, a strike could not have been averted.. Canada Revenue AgencyCRA headquarters .The CRA offered “a 9% wage increase over three years that mirrors the recommendations of the third-party Public Interest Commission with the PSAC and Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada. The PSAC-UTE countered with a proposal of 22.5% over the course of three years, which includes a market adjustment of 2%.”.The CRA said it “made consistent efforts to address the PSAC-UTE’s main priorities and we remain confident the parties can continue to find areas of potential compromise and trade-off through honest discussions and concessions by both sides.”.The CRA asked “PSAC-UTE to work with us, build on the progress we have already made, reach an agreement and continue to deliver the important services Canadians rely on.”.Due to the “labour action,” some CRA services will be delayed or unavailable, but benefit payments will be prioritized, and the Canada child benefit will continue to be issued as scheduled..The CRA will accept all tax returns, and digitally filed returns will be processed automatically without delay..There are currently no plans to extend the tax filing deadlines. The CRA will keep accepting all tax returns. Most T1 and T2 returns, which are filed digitally, will undergo automatic processing by the CRA systems without delays.
