The settlement will apply to thousands of eligible current and former Interviewers and Senior Interviewers who worked at Statistics Canada between March 8, 1985 and November 5, 1987 and for SSO between November 6, 1987 and November 30, 2013.

“This a huge victory for thousands of our members,” said Robyn Benson, PSAC National President. “PSAC has fought to reach a pay equity settlement with Statistical Survey Operations for years.”

“This is a long time coming. Our members have finally achieved pay equity. ”

“We achieved this victory because our members fought hard with us for many years and never gave up.”

“This struggle builds on the pay equity movement that continues today. We will continue urging the Liberal government to make proactive pay equity legislation a reality without further delay.”

“I’m very happy that PSAC has won this extremely long struggle. This will put between $40-$45 million in the pockets of our members, whose work has been undervalued and who have a long history of precarious employment. The settlement means a lot to them,” added Doug Marshall, National President, Union of National Employees.

Details to follow soon

Now that the settlement has been signed, PSAC and SSO representatives will work out the details as to the calculation and disbursement of the monies owed. SSO estimates the payments will average between $1500 and $2000 per worker.

As this settlement will apply to several thousand individuals and spans a period of over 30 years, the SSO will make best efforts to commence making payments to eligible employees early in 2017.

Settlement ends long legal process

In 2002, PSAC filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission on behalf of members employed with seven separate employers, including SSO.

After over a decade of legal wrangling, the SSO case was referred to the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board for a hearing in 2014 which eventually led to further discussions between PSAC and SSO, finally resulting in this settlement.