PSAC blames Phoenix for Ottawa's missed collective agreement deadline

The largest union representing federal public service workers is filing a complaint against the government for missing a collective agreement deadline, likely because ofongoing issues with the Phoenix pay system.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada says it willfilethe complaint with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board Wednesday. TheTreasury Board has already admitted it will notmeet the latest deadline topay three years worth of back pay under fourcollective agreements as well as increase wages.

The new agreements were signed June 14, 2017 with a 150-day implementation deadline.

'Addsinsult to injury'

McGillis believes the deadline wasn't met because of ongoing problems with the Phoenix pay system.

"From the beginning, [the government has] been very close-mouthed about exactly what the cause is. I think we can just assume it's Phoenix," hetold CBC News.

From the beginning, [the government has] been very close-mouthed about exactly what the cause is. I think we can just assume it's Phoenix.'- GregMcGillis,PSACregional executive vice-president

The failure to implement the wage adjustmentseven comesafter the government had two extra months to implement theagreements, which usually have a 90-day deadline, McGillis said.

PSAC is looking for compensation for both the persistent problems withPhoenix and the failure to implement these new agreements.

Just how much they ask for in damages will depend on how long it takes before the issue is resolved, McGillissaid.

Some people are living paychequeto paychequeand have been racking up interest payments or late payments and were depending on thisback pay, he said.

The government had said in October that pay centres across the country were makingthe collective agreement changes a priority ahead of other Phoenix issues.

• Chaos inside the Phoenix pay centres Is anyone's pay right?

"Of course there are problems with Phoenix, and of course it's unconscionable what's happened and it's terrible and our members still aren't getting paid. This adds insult to injury," said McGillis.

No timeline for Phoenix fixes

In Question Period Tuesday, NDPpublic services and procurement critic Erin Weir asked whether the governmentwould rebuild a publicly administered payroll system to fix the Phoenix "boondoggle."

Public Services and Procurement MinisterCarlaQualtrough responded that the problems areher department's top priority.

This is a frustrating and unacceptable situation that we're being totally transparent on and we're workinghard to fix.- Scott Brison,Treasury Board President

"While we did not create this problem, we are fixing it," she said.

On Tuesday, Treasury Board President Scott Brisonalso acknowledged the frustrations public servants face, but wouldn't give a timeline as to when collective agreements would be implemented.

"It's just totally unacceptable that we are not able to pay our public servants on time, or accuratelyin many cases," he said.

"This is a frustrating and unacceptable situation that we're being totally transparent on and we're working hard to fix," said Brison, adding the complexity of the agreements that need to be implementedhas burdened the pay system.