The Government responds to claims made by the PSAC today

April 22, 2023 - Ottawa (Ontario)  -  Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

The Government’s only goal is to negotiate a fair agreement at the bargaining table. The facts don’t support the claims made by the PSAC today.

We have been at the bargaining table every day since mediation started.

Since the start of the negotiations, we have made numerous proposals to the PSAC and have seen very little movement from them on their demands.

This inflexibility was reflected in a comprehensive proposal they provided us on Thursday evening.

On Friday, we tried to contact the PSAC to meet with us to discuss their proposal. They were unreachable at the common issues table.

This morning, we reached out again through the mediator and told them we would present a new offer at 1:00 p.m. today. The PSAC took three hours to respond to the request, initially accepting the meeting at 12:31 p.m., and then at 12:40 p.m. advised that they were no longer available at that time.

While our negotiators and our offer waited, Mr. Aylward chose instead, to go on television to complain that he had not received it.

We are not here to play games. We are here to get a deal. Our employees and the public they serve expect both parties to work hard at the bargaining table.

There is no time nor tolerance for stalling and misinformation.

Now that the PSAC has returned to the table after their press conference, talks have resumed.  We need the PSAC to bargain in good faith so we can reach agreements that will put an end to the strike and provide PSAC members with fair, competitive, and reasonable wages.