The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC / AFPC) launched a strike in the federal public service last night after negotiations between it and the Treasury Board of the federal government failed to reach an agreement on its demands. The union includes more than 155,000 employees in various federal ministries and agencies.

The union had threatened to start the strike at 12:01 AM today, Wednesday, if no agreement was reached with the government by 9 PM last Tuesday.

The union represents about 120,000 federal government employees working in various ministries and about 35,000 members of the Union of Tax Employees (UTE / SEI) working at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA / ARC).

According to the union, citizens can expect a slowdown or interruption in many federal government services, such as unemployment benefits, immigration applications, and passport applications.

This strike also results in a complete halt in processing income tax returns and interruption of supply chain and trade activities at ports and airports, as well as a slowdown in service at border crossings where administrative employees are also participating in the strike.

"We are still very far apart, but we remain at the table (for negotiations) because we are still optimistic and our goal remains to reach a preliminary agreement," said the national president of the Public Service Alliance, Chris Aylward, last night at the press conference announcing the start of the strike.

Late last night, the federal government responded with a press release affirming that it "did everything possible to reach an agreement and avoid disruption to the services Canadians need," notably by offering a 9% wage increase over three years, describing it as fair and competitive.

However, the Public Service Alliance considered this increase insufficient, as it requests a 4.5% annual increase over three years.

Also, the issue of remote work via the internet, which is a priority of the union, poses a major problem for the Treasury Board.

"There are settlements that must be made on all our demands, and this is the goal of any negotiations," Aylward said last night.

But the Treasury Board considers that the union's demands "in their current form will have serious effects on the government's ability to deliver services to Canadians and will limit its ability to effectively manage federal public sector employees."

It is worth noting that not all members of the Public Service Alliance will be able to stop working, as the federal government has prepared contingency plans to ensure essential services. Many government employees "are considered essential by law."

For his part, Aylward confirmed yesterday that the union's goal is not to paralyze services for Canadians but to put pressure on the government.