By promising to test prototypes to replace the fickle Phoenix pay system, the Liberal government is setting up Canada’s public servants for further disappointment about their pay, worries the president of the largest federal union.

Chris Aylward, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), says public servants are fed up with the Phoenix pay crisis and want to be paid accurately, and on time, every payday.

But he’s concerned that Treasury Board President Scott Brison’s prediction last week that public servants could be testing multiple prototypes for a new pay system before the end of the year is raising hopes that a new system is on the way.

“He is raising expectations of employees to the level where the government can’t deliver, and I am really concerned about that,” said Aylward. The last thing we need is … the government raising expectations about a new pay system coming soon, and then that’s not the case.”

At the same time, the union is using a national television advertising campaign to pressure the government to resolve the pay crisis that has dogged federal employees for more than two years.

Launching today, “Here for Canada” highlights how public servants have persevered through the pay crisis and loyally gone to work, even though they were underpaid, overpaid, or not paid at all. The campaign includes a petition directed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“Most people would quit their job if their employer stopped paying them properly, but federal public service workers keep showing up to work, day after day,” said Aylward.

“They continue to protect our borders, ensure our food is safe, and provide other vital functions like getting out pension cheques, child benefits, and EI. We want to make sure Canadians understand their unwavering commitment to keep providing the services they depend on.”

The union’s TV ad will run on all major television news networks for the next four weeks. The union has also been running an online campaign since July. A new video features public servants telling how Phoenix foul-ups cost them their homes, cars, cash savings, and nest eggs for retirement.

“That’s where we are two-and-a-half years into it, and it’s still not over,” said one of the workers who told her story.

The campaign comes as the government launches its search for a Phoenix replacement — an initiative that PSAC and other unions pressed the government to do. The government held an industry day last week with would-be vendors to explain the scope and scale of the project, and what it wants to see in a new human-resource and pay system.

Although Brison was confident there could be prototype testing within weeks or months, he stressed he had no idea when a new system would be ready, nor how much it would cost.

Aylward said the ad campaign is part of the “escalating action” the union’s members approved in a sweeping resolution at its May convention.

The resolution called for ways to keep pressuring the government to resolve the Phoenix disaster, and to hold it accountable for the thousands of public servants who’ve been affected.

The ad is also meant to sway the public by showing the severity of problems some workers faced, as unions and Treasury Board try to hammer out a deal to compensate employees for the emotional and financial damage of more than two years of botched pay. Those damages will be on top of the $3.5 billion it could cost to fix Phoenix if it takes five years.

Unions want a settlement before the 2019 election.

The unions are also gearing up for a new round of collective bargaining, and Phoenix looms large over those talks. The government wants the unions to simplify collective agreements and the 80,000 pay rules embedded in them in order to decrease the number of transactions on the pay system. PSAC has bargaining sessions scheduled for next month.

Phoenix is still creating pay problems, but nothing like those of two years ago, which resulted in a massive backlog that Public Services and Procurement Canada is still trying to eliminate. The government also has emergency and priority payment procedures to ensure public servants whose paycheques are bungled get immediate access to money.

The government has made fixing or “stabilizing” Phoenix a top priority that will continue full-tilt, as it works with the technology industry to find a new system that uses a new agile procurement process.

Many say the biggest problem with Phoenix today is that the debacle has destroyed employees’ faith in the reliability of their pay. Many question whether they are even getting the right amount.

Alyward said the union will continue to implement the resolution that was overwhelmingly approved at the convention. The measures include:

Damages for the “health, emotional and financial” impact of Phoenix;

Paid leave for the personal time taken to resolve pay problems;

Reimbursement of sick leave taken because of Phoenix foul-ups;

Tax relief for employees who were overpaid;

More, and permanent, compensation advisers;

Understandable pay stubs;

A review and reconciliation of payroll for all workers paid by Phoenix after the backlog is cleared;

A new system that works;

Consultation and publicly reported testing of any future technological changes that affect pay and benefits; and

Adequate funds for emergency and priority payments for those who aren’t paid.

Unions have been negotiating with the government for months for damages, and want the matter settled before the 2019 election.

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