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Public service union ratifies new contract with Ottawa – Metro US

Public service union ratifies new contract with Ottawa

More than half of Public Service Alliance of Canada members voted
for a new agreement with the federal government, ratifying it by a
narrow margin, PSAC President John Gordon announced Wednesday.

The deal gives more than 95,000 employees – including 30,000
public servants in the National Capital Region – a 5.3 per cent wage
increase over three years, but in return, they will no longer receive
severance payments when they resign or retire from the public service.

“Let me state the obvious,” Gordon said. “This was a very close
vote. During the ratification process, we heard from many of our
members who are unsatisfied with the agreement, particularly the
provision to cash out voluntary severance and end its future
accumulation.”

Gordon said the debate among members was a healthy one, and
though they realized the need for belt-tightening, PSAC would guard
against any further “erosion” of benefits, or of government services.

“For our membership, certainly they understand the economic
conditions of Canada and that’s why they’ve supported this collective
agreement, but they also remember how this government and other
governments have treated them by negotiating wages in the past and
rolling them back and taking away money from them.”

The largest group of PSAC members, 81,500 workers classified as
Program and Administrative Services, voted 52.1 per cent in favour of
the contract.