Canadian federal workers get a Labor Day deal to end the strike

May 1 (Reuters) – The Canadian government struck a deal with 120,000 federal workers on Monday, effectively ending the country’s largest public sector strike in history, which has hampered services from passport renewals to immigration.

The Public Service Federation of Canada (PSAC) said that while most strikers are preparing to return to work after nearly two weeks of stalemate, more than 35,000 revenue agency workers who struck on April 19 are still negotiating.

This will continue to slow the processing of annual tax returns.

“This agreement delivers important gains for our members that will set the standards for all workers in Canada,” PSAC President Chris Aylward said in a statement.

The PSAC said it received a total pay increase of 12.6% over four years, after it rejected an offer of 9% over three years when the strike was called. The deal includes a one-time payment of C$2,500 (US$1,845).

The PSAC failed to obtain a home business stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement as the Treasury Board – the federal employer – refused. But there is a deal to process remote work applications individually and in writing, opening up the government to an employee grievance process.

This is the first new contract negotiated since the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced millions to work remotely.

Canadian Labor Party Chair Pia Brusque told Reuters before the deal was finalized that the deal “will have a ripple effect, quite frankly, for the rest of Canada.”

Brosky said that “all large private sector employers and all other provincial and territorial governments” would be considering the details of the deal.

On remote working, the Treasury Board said it would allow leaving the home for up to three days a week – as has already been the case – and departmental committees would be set up to address employee concerns.

“These deals are fair, competitive, reasonable and stable for Canadian and public servants,” Mona Fortier, president of the Treasury Board, said in a statement.

The PSAC has been in collective negotiations for a new contract since 2021, causing delays and disruption to services such as immigration and passport renewals.

($1 = 1.3547 Canadian dollars)

Additional reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Jacqueline Wong

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