Members of the audit services group, who have been without a contract since September 2018, went on strike Nov. 26.
Author of the article: Andrew Duffy
Publishing date:Mar 18, 2022
Striking technical, professional, administrative and other Office of the Auditor General of Canada employees, along with supporters, picketed outside the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat on Friday.
PHOTO BY ERROL MCGIHON /Postmedia
Striking workers in the Office of the Auditor General, who have been on the picket lines for almost four months, received some welcome news Friday: A new contract offer will be tabled at the end of March
The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) announced Friday morning on Twitter that it had received a revised mandate from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
The move empowered the OAG to change its bargaining position and make a new offer to the 165 mostly-female members of the audit services group.
That offer will be presented to negotiators at a bargaining session scheduled for March 29.
“I’m ready for this to be over. I’m just looking forward to going back to work,” Isabelle Champagne-Bell said at a rally of the striking workers Friday outside the offices of the treasury board.
Champagne-Bell has worked at the OAG for 13 years in communications. She said the stress of the strike, combined with the pandemic and truckers’ protest, had been difficult to manage.
“It has been not good — a little demoralizing to be completely honest,” she said.
Members of the audit services group, who have been without a contract since September 2018, went on strike Nov. 26.
Striking workers in the Office of the Auditor General, who have been on the picket lines for almost four months, received some welcome news Friday: A new contract offer will be tabled at the end of March
The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) announced Friday morning on Twitter that it had received a revised mandate from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
The move empowered the OAG to change its bargaining position and make a new offer to the 165 mostly-female members of the audit services group.
That offer will be presented to negotiators at a bargaining session scheduled for March 29.
“I’m ready for this to be over. I’m just looking forward to going back to work,” Isabelle Champagne-Bell said at a rally of the striking workers Friday outside the offices of the treasury board.
Champagne-Bell has worked at the OAG for 13 years in communications. She said the stress of the strike, combined with the pandemic and truckers’ protest, had been difficult to manage.
“It has been not good — a little demoralizing to be completely honest,” she said.
Members of the audit services group, who have been without a contract since September 2018, went on strike Nov. 26.
It was the first strike in the history of the OAG.
The strike that began in November is the first ever involving Office of the Auditor General staff.
PHOTO BY ERROL MCGIHON /Postmedia
Last week, Auditor General Karen Hogan said the ongoing strike would delay publication of her next accountability report, possibly for months. The most important federal watchdog, the auditor general examines government programs for efficiency, cost-effectiveness and performance.
According to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the key issues in the strike are fair pay and the introduction of a salary grid that establishes escalating pay levels for higher job classifications.
The union says members of the audit services group are the lowest-paid workers at the OAG and one of the only groups in the federal civil service without a pay grid.
Alex Silas, PSAC’s regional executive vice-president for the national capital region, welcomed the government’s decision to table a new offer. “Treasury Board has finally taken notice of this,” he said Friday.
Silas said he hadn’t seen details of the new offer and didn’t understand why the auditor general would wait another 10 days to share them.
“Let’s see the new offer. Let’s get back to the table,” he said, adding: “We’re going to remain firm in our position: We need a wage grid. We need the same economic increase as at other treasury board tables.”
PSAC is seeking a 2.11-per-cent annual wage increased averaged over three years: the same wage settlement reached by other major bargaining groups for the years in question.
Silas said the Omicron wave and the truckers’ occupation made the strike difficult to conduct and forced much of the activity online.
Marie-Eve Tremblay works in professional development at the OAG, designing training courses, and serves as vice-president of the union local. She said the strike had been stressful.
“I never saw this coming and never thought this would happen,” said Tremblay who has been at the OAG for 12 years. “I have a family with three kids, so having to live with this has been frustrating.”
The OAG strike is the longest strike by PSAC members in more than two years.
PSAC’s four major bargaining units, which represent more than 100,000 civil servants, are negotiating with the treasury board on new contracts. The previous ones expired last summer. To confront rising inflation, PSAC wants a 4.5 per cent wage increase in each year of proposed three-year agreements.
Last week, Auditor General Karen Hogan said the ongoing strike would delay publication of her next accountability report, possibly for months. The most important federal watchdog, the auditor general examines government programs for efficiency, cost-effectiveness and performance.
According to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the key issues in the strike are fair pay and the introduction of a salary grid that establishes escalating pay levels for higher job classifications.
The union says members of the audit services group are the lowest-paid workers at the OAG and one of the only groups in the federal civil service without a pay grid.
Alex Silas, PSAC’s regional executive vice-president for the national capital region, welcomed the government’s decision to table a new offer. “Treasury Board has finally taken notice of this,” he said Friday.
Silas said he hadn’t seen details of the new offer and didn’t understand why the auditor general would wait another 10 days to share them.
“Let’s see the new offer. Let’s get back to the table,” he said, adding: “We’re going to remain firm in our position: We need a wage grid. We need the same economic increase as at other treasury board tables.”
PSAC is seeking a 2.11-per-cent annual wage increased averaged over three years: the same wage settlement reached by other major bargaining groups for the years in question.
Silas said the Omicron wave and the truckers’ occupation made the strike difficult to conduct and forced much of the activity online.
Marie-Eve Tremblay works in professional development at the OAG, designing training courses, and serves as vice-president of the union local. She said the strike had been stressful.
“I never saw this coming and never thought this would happen,” said Tremblay who has been at the OAG for 12 years. “I have a family with three kids, so having to live with this has been frustrating.”
The OAG strike is the longest strike by PSAC members in more than two years.
PSAC’s four major bargaining units, which represent more than 100,000 civil servants, are negotiating with the treasury board on new contracts. The previous ones expired last summer. To confront rising inflation, PSAC wants a 4.5 per cent wage increase in each year of proposed three-year agreements.
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