The largest federal union is demanding a base pay increase of more than 11 per cent over the next three years for public servants who faithfully go to work, never knowing whether they will be paid properly — if at all — by the fickle Phoenix pay system.

Chris Aylward, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), said the union tabled a yearly 3.75 per cent increase as an opening demand, but isn’t willing to settle for much less because of the financial and emotional hardship caused by Phoenix foul-ups for close to three years.

“Where we are starting from is close to where we want to end up,” said Aylward.

“This is not a wild and crazy reach-for-the-stars (proposal). This is demonstrative of where we want to be at the end of this … and it indicates our desire for this to be behind us.”

Aylward argues PSAC is proposing what he calls a “realistic and fair” base pay raise to strike a deal quickly, rather than an inflated proposal that would take months of talks to bargain down to a settlement.

Statistics Canada is estimating an average inflation rate of 2.15 per cent this year, and hovering in the same range over the duration of the contract.

PSAC, which represents about 150,000 federal workers, has long argued that the government shouldn’t dig in with a tough bargaining stance in this round. Instead, It should recognize the perseverance and loyalty of public servants who continue going to work, not knowing if they will be paid.

Negotiators for four of PSAC’s largest bargaining groups met with Treasury Board last week and each tabled the same 3.75 per cent annual pay raise. They include: program and administrative services; technical services; education and library services; and operational services.

Along with the proposed increases in base pay, the union is looking for additional adjustments or payments for the unique situation of the various bargaining groups, such as narrowing wage gaps with the private sector or retention bonuses to keep workers.

It’s the first wage proposal tabled since the current round of bargaining began in July. The last round of collective bargaining dragged on for more than three years before a deal was reached. In that round, unions didn’t talk about wage increases until they were two years into bargaining.

Aylward acknowledged the union tabled its monetary demands early, because it wants to spur talks and reach a deal before heading into next year’s federal election. He said Treasury Board negotiators are dragging their heels and don’t seem to have a mandate from the Trudeau government.

He said a quick deal would take pressure of Phoenix, which would have fewer retroactive payments to handle. It would also ensure labour peace during an election campaign.

“We want to give a strong signal to (Treasury Board President Scott) Brison that we are serious when we say we want to get this done. We also think this is reasonable. They have to take into consideration what public servants have been through because of Phoenix.”

Aylward said government negotiators have not been prepared to discuss any of the union’s proposals and, if this continues during the November bargaining session, the union will be forced to turn up the pressure with a strike vote in the new year.

“They have not done anything with our demands,” said Alyward. “No true negotiations have taken place at this point. We are completely frustrated because of the lack of mandate and movement from the Treasury Board team.

“I sure hope they come to table with a mandate soon, a serious mandate, so we see our way through to a deal, sooner than later.”

The beleaguered Phoenix looms large over this round of bargaining.

More than half of the the 300,000 federal workers paid by Phoenix have faced botched pay since the system was introduced in February 2016. They have been overpaid, underpaid or not paid at all.

Despite much effort to stabilize Phoenix, new errors keep cropping up. With no end in sight, PSAC earlier tabled a demand that the right to be paid on time be written into contracts to protect employees from another Phoenix pay crisis. It also wants interest paid to employees if the government fails to meet that commitment.

The 18 federal unions are also seeking damages to compensate employees for Phoenix foul-ups. The unions try to distance those discussions from contract talks, but many say the outcome of one has to influence that of the other.

Part of the battle is in the court of public opinion. Many Canadians have sympathy with public servants not getting paid properly, but it’s unclear how much money in damages and raises taxpayers are willing to foot for a fiasco that the government’s comptroller-general estimates could cost $3.5 billion.

PSAC’s demands also came as Auditor General Michael Ferguson released his report on the government’s financial statements, in which he flagged that Phoenix is still making mistakes and hasn’t improved over the past year, despite millions of dollars in fixes.

Ferguson audited a sample of pay transactions in 47 of the 101 departments using Phoenix and found $615 million in pay errors in the last year — $369 million in underpayments and $246 million in overpayment to employees.

He found 62 per cent of employees sampled were paid incorrectly at least once during the year — the same percentage as last year. About 58 per cent were waiting for pay fixes, also the same percentage as last year.

Unions also want a contract settlement before any economic jitters set in. They want a deal before the election, when the cost of public-service salaries and benefits could become a political football, particularly with the the deficit poised to become a major campaign issue.

This week, the parliamentary budget officer released a report showing the government will run bigger deficits than it has been predicting for each of the next few years. The larger-than-forecasted deficits are linked to changes in how the government calculates its pension liabilities, which unions fear will throw the spotlight on federal compensation, particularly the cost and affordability of public service pensions.

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