On May 1, PSAC National President Robyn Benson and National Executive Vice President Chris Aylward, along with other union leaders, attended a meeting with senior government officials regarding Phoenix. Benson and Aylward have been attending these regular meetings for months, in order to address the problems caused by the Phoenix pay system.
The President of the Treasury Board, Minister Scott Brison, briefly attended the meeting to hear directly from PSAC and the other unions. Minister Brison spoke about the new Phoenix working group of MPs and Ministers.
“If the task force of Ministers and MPs can ensure there are more resources put in place to fix this broken system and support employees who’ve been hurt, we’ll know that the government’s commitment to a solution is real,” said Benson after the meeting. “This debacle has gone on far too long, and our members need to see concrete action.”
Action needed
This meeting provided another opportunity for PSAC to reiterate its demands that the government follow up last week’s announcement with concrete action.
To get closer to a permanent fix, PSAC demands that the government:
- Hire more staff at the pay centre in Miramichi and make sure this is stable.
- Hire permanent, not temporary, staff at the call centres who have the training and support to help our members.
- Make a commitment to keep the satellite pay centres open permanently.
Members rally
This past weekend, thousands of PSAC members across Quebec rallied in front of MP offices to protest the on-going problems with the Phoenix pay system.
“I am proud of our members for continuing to keep the pressure on the federal government to fix Phoenix,” said Benson.