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The union that represents the majority of federal employees has rejected the government’s “meagre” offer to compensate public servants who’ve fallen victim to the Phoenix pay system fiasco.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada says the government is offering general compensation of just 1.25 days of paid leave per year, for four years.

“PSAC could not agree to this meagre proposal,” union president Chris Aylward said in a statement Friday.

“Our union will not trade in four years of our members’ pain and suffering for a settlement that does not adequately compensate for the terrible toll Phoenix has had on their lives and that of their families.”

PSAC represents some 180,000 workers.

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The union says more than 270,000 workers have been affected by the disastrous adoption of the Phoenix pay system, which left them underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all.

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According to PSAC, the fiasco forced many public servants to “delay career advancement, cancel parental leave, experience high levels of anxiety, reduce their support of family members and delay retirement – to name but a few of the serious adverse effects.”

The union says a backlog of 240,000 cases is still not resolved and more than 100,000 workers are still waiting to have their last collective agreements implemented.

Aylward said PSAC also found other elements of the government’s compensation proposal to be unacceptable, such as imposing a $1,500 threshold before some compensation claims can be made and preventing members from taking cash in lieu of the proposed paid leave.

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