Federal public service union calls strike votes for 120,000 workers
The union says the government has refused to negotiate on key issues such as wages, job security and remote work.
OTTAWA · The Public Service Alliance of Canada will hold strike votes for 120,000 federal workers starting next month. The union announced the move after contract negotiations with the Treasury Board broke down following a year and a half of talks. Voting is scheduled to take place across the country from Nov. 16 to Jan. 22. PSAC says the government has refused to negotiate on key issues including wages, job security, remote work and protections against artificial intelligence.
PSAC national president Sharon DeSousa said the government's actions forced the union's hand. "The government has left us no other choice," said DeSousa. "This is a wake-up call for the government to stop playing games and put a fair offer on the table." The union had previously rejected a government wage offer of less than one per cent per year, calling it insulting last May. Workers involved in the vote include wildland firefighters, passport officers, fishery officers and federal librarians.
If members vote in favour, the union would be in a legal strike position for 60 days. DeSousa emphasized that a strike is considered a last resort. "Our goal is to get a good collective agreement, and it doesn't have to lead to a strike, but we will if required to do so," she said. The labour action comes amid a period of significant change for federal public servants, who have faced both job cuts and stricter office attendance rules in recent years.
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The federal public service has lost more than 23,000 staff over the last two years, according to Canada's parliamentary spending watchdog. Data from the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer shows there were 344,970 federal employees in the second quarter of this year, a drop of 6.5 per cent from two years ago. The Liberal government's 2025 budget outlined a plan to reduce the public service by 10 per cent by the end of the 2028-29 fiscal year. This follows a major strike in 2023 where 155,000 workers won wage increases of 12.6 per cent over three years.
At the same time, federal departments are increasing their spending to enforce office attendance. Thirteen federal organizations plan to spend a combined $18.7 million to reconfigure or acquire office space. Thousands of public servants began a new schedule in July requiring them to work on-site four days a week. Executive public servants returned to the office full-time in May, according to information provided in response to a question from NDP MP Heather McPherson.
With files from The Canadian Press, BNN Bloomberg and Toronto Star