CRA workers in legal strike position 2 weeks from tax deadline

Workers at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) are in a legal strike position as of Friday, April 14.

Last week, the union representing 35,000 workers voted in favour of job action.

The strike threat comes just over two weeks ahead of the tax deadline.

A final round of negotiations between the CRA and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is set to begin on Monday.

The PSAC says workers have been without a contract for more than a year, even as the cost of living continues to rise. It claims the federal government continues to have “major concessions on the table,” adding the CRA has yet to “respond to the union’s wage proposals.”

In addition to wages, the union says working hours and job security are among the top concerns that have yet to be addressed.

“When we go back to the bargaining table (on April 17), things are going to have to happen relatively quickly in order to avoid a strike,” Chris Aylward, the national president of the PSAC, told CityNews on April 7.

Income tax deadline approaches

This year, the deadline to file your income tax return is April 30. Since that is a Sunday, the CRA says your return will be considered to have been filed on time if it’s received by the agency or postmarked before or on May 1.

Aylward previously said if workers do go on strike, taxpayers will notice.

“If our 35,000 member at the Canada Revenue Agency do take job action and go on strike, absolutely it will certainly delay things. It will delay income tax returns from being processed and assessed, it will delay notice of assessments going out,” he explained.

According to the PSAC, the members it represents work various roles. They do everything from assessing returns, to collections, to payroll, and more, Aylward says.

In a statement posted last week, the CRA says it “respects the collective bargaining process and remains committed to pursuing meaningful negotiations” with the union.

“While our priority is reaching a deal at the bargaining table, we recognize the right of employees to engage in strike activities,” the CRA statement continues.

It says it is “confident that the parties will find many areas of potential compromise and trade-off” during the upcoming round of negotiations.