155,000 federal public workers to strike Wednesday morning

Unionized Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) workers have announced they will be walking off the job as of 12:01 a.m. EST tomorrow morning, setting the stage for one of the largest strikes in Canadian history.

The decision comes after contract talks with the federal government failed to produce an agreement before the union’s 9 p.m. ET deadline.

This action includes workers at the Canadian Revenue Agency, with the country’s tax deadline just two weeks away.

“We are still here at the table, we will remain at the table,” PSAC National President Chris Aylward said in Ottawa Tuesday night.

“We will remain for as long as it takes during the strike, and we will remain on strike until the government addresses our key issues at the bargaining table.”

Many employees work in an office only two or three days a week, but Aylward says they would have to scan a barcode at a picketing location every day to receive strike pay.

Contract negotiations initially began in June 2021 and required a mediator in early April of this year after nearly two years of talks.

The union announced members had voted in favour of a strike vote last week after a vote was called in January.

Read more:

• CRA workers in legal strike position 2 weeks from tax deadline

Jennifer Carr, the president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, said that although her union has chosen the arbitration route, it has hosted webinars to inform its members about how they can support the strikers.

“We are showing that solidarity by those actions,” she said.

Wage increases have been top of mind at the bargaining table, and the union has also pushed for work-from-home options to be written into a new collective agreement.

PSAC is the largest union in the Canadian federal public sector and represents 155,000 workers, 35,000 of which are Canada Revenue Agency workers.

With files from David Nadalini and The Canadian Press