PSAC won increased rates for Engineering and Scientific Support (EG) members in the Technical Services (TC) group in January 2022 to ensure that they are at parity with EGs at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Since then, Treasury Board has refused to make payments to any EG members in the TC group, arguing they won’t implement the changes until PSAC and the government reach a new collective agreement.

We believed that this was a clear violation of the arbitration ruling, and returned to the arbitrator to force Treasury Board to pay this amount immediately. Closing this pay gap is long overdue, and the government should not deny workers amounts that they are rightly owed.

Unfortunately, the arbitrator did not side with us, and has ordered that the updated rates only be paid when we finalize a deal with Treasury Board for this round of bargaining. Although the initial payment resulting from the new 1.5 per cent step in June 2022 won’t happen until a new collective agreement is signed, this pay parity victory will be fully retroactive for EG members.

This arbitration decision has no impact on what PSAC is seeking at the table in this round of bargaining.

Negotiations hit a breaking point when Treasury Board refused to budge on their insulting wage offer amidst soaring inflation in Canada. PSAC is in mediation for common issues bargaining from September 12 to 14 and 20 to 23, with dates for the TC group coming soon.

Check out our bargaining toolkit to learn more about this round of bargaining, the issues that matter most, and how to get involved.

Please be sure to keep your contact information up to date to receive the latest updates for TC members.