CRA employees vote in favour of striking as tax deadline approaches

About 35,000 workers at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) are in a legal position to strike as of April 14, and a recent vote showed that these employees are ready to take action for better wages.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) made a joint announcement on Saturday stating that CRA workers voted “overwhelmingly in favour of taking strike action” in a poll held between January 31 and April 7.

Negotiations between the CRA bargaining team and the PSAC-UTE have been going on since January 2022. The union declared an impasse in September 2022. CRA workers have now been without a contract for over a year.

“Our members are falling further behind as inflation soars and wages are stuck in neutral,” said UTE National President Marc Brière. “We’ve negotiated in good faith, but our members have had enough. Our bills are mounting, and our families are feeling the pinch. And now, we’re going to show the government that workers won’t wait.”

The PSAC-UTE proposed a wage increase of 4.5 per cent on November 1, 2021, and an 8 per cent raise in 2022 and 2023.

After the impasse was declared, the CRA emphasized that the union’s proposed wage increases equate to 29.5% over the course of three years. The agency also said “PSAC-UTE still has over 200 outstanding bargaining demands, many of which involve significant costs to the CRA.”

Union members are in a legal position to strike as of April 14. A final round of negotiations is scheduled for April 17 to April 20.

“Tax season is here,” Brière said. “Going on strike is never our first choice. But securing a strong strike mandate now gives us the leverage we need to reach a fair and decent contract. And if we need to take job action to get the collective agreement our members deserve, that’s what we’re prepared to do.”

CRA has acknowledged PSAC-UTE’s preparedness to take job action.

“In the event of a labour disruption, certain CRA services may be delayed or unavailable,” said a March 31 statement from the CRA. “The CRA is committed to being transparent with Canadians about impacts to services, should they happen, and Canadians can consult the ‘Contact Us‘ page for more details and current wait times.”

“Our members have sent a strong message to CRA,” said PSAC National President Chris Aylward. “Workers can’t wait, and we’re ready to show this government we won’t let workers fall behind.”

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