More than 155,000 public workers in Canada strike over pay dispute

Union says this is the largest strike against a single employer in country's history

The strike will affect several federal services and could delay tax refunds since the walkout by revenue agency workers comes in the middle of the tax filing season. Bloomberg

More than 155,000 public sector workers in Canada began a strike on Wednesday after failing to reach a wage deal with the federal government.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada union said contract negotiations would continue even as it called for its members working for the Treasury Board and Canada Revenue Agency to begin striking from midnight.

Striking workers picketed and waved union flags in front of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, one of 250 picket lines across the country.

The union, which has been in collective bargaining for a new contract since 2021, had set a deadline of 9pm Wednesday. PSAC says it is the largest strike against a single employer in Canada's history.

“We truly hoped we wouldn't be forced to take strike action, but we've exhausted every other avenue to reach a fair contract for Canada's federal public service workers,” PSAC's president Chris Aylward said.

“We will remain on strike until the government addresses our key issues at the bargaining table.”

The strike will affect several federal services and could delay tax refunds since the walkout by revenue agency workers comes in the middle of the tax filing season. Passport renewals ahead of peak summer travel are also set to face delays.

The federal government said in a statement that it presented a “fair, competitive offer to the PSAC”, including a 9 per cent wage increase over three years, and that it would continue negotiations to reach an agreement quickly.

The contract negotiations cover two main groups of employees: 120,000 workers under the Treasury Board and more than 35,000 revenue agency workers.

The government has said it does not plan to extend the May 1 deadline for filing personal income taxes.

The strike would also affect 65 per cent of employees at the Canadian Grain Commission, including most inspectors of outbound grain at ports, according to the commission. Canada is a major wheat and canola exporter.

The strike underscores that many workers are driven to recoup purchasing power they lost during the recent period of high inflation. It could even set the tone for wage negotiations by both public- and private-sector unions in the coming months.

Annual consumer price gains drifted lower to 4.3 per cent in March, the slowest pace of inflation in nearly two years. The Bank of Canada sees inflation falling to 3 per cent by midyear, but officials have warned that elevated wage growth could make getting it back to the 2 per cent target “more difficult”.

Four cabinet ministers led by Treasury Board President Mona Fortier will hold a briefing on the strike and service disruptions on Wednesday.

The stakes are high for Mr Trudeau, whose government has increased the size of the public service by more than a third since he was elected in 2015. A scuffle with federal unions will likely draw the ire of the labour-friendly New Democratic Party, which is supporting him in a minority parliament, and widespread service disruptions will be unpopular among voters.

Agencies contributed to this report