The largest federal union is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to kick-start stalled negotiations to compensate Canada’s public servants for more than two years of hardship caused by the Phoenix pay disaster.

Chris Aylward, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), said negotiations, which seemed close to an agreement a few weeks ago, have fizzled because federal negotiators don’t have a ‘mandate’ from the government to settle.

“Government representatives at the table say they are waiting for a mandate. Well, it’s time Prime Minister Trudeau gave them one,” said Aylward.

Union and senior management officials also been discussing damages for months, haggling over how employees should be compensated in time, money or a combination of both — and a framework for determining individual settlements.

The 17 unions are seeking damages to compensate for the stress, time lost, and financial losses caused by the faulty Phoenix pay system. A sub-committee of the joint Union Management Consultation Committee is leading the talks.

The February budget signalled the government’s willingness to negotiate “to address the real mental and emotional stress and unacceptable financial impacts on public servants,” which further fueled the union’s hopes a deal was imminent.

“We were encouraged by an uptick after the budget was released, but I can assure you that since then progress has been stalled and we are not happy about it,” said Aylward.

The unions aren’t saying what kind of settlement they are seeking, but it will cost the government millions of dollars on top of the $1 billion spent building and fixing the error-prone pay system. The budget earmarked another $431 million to ‘stabilize’ Phoenix and about $307 million will be spent this year.

“It will cost them what it will cost. I am not going to give out a dollar figure on it,” said Aylward. “We are not satisfied until we have negotiated something our members deserve.”

The call comes as Auditor-General Michael Ferguson readies to release his much-awaited second report into Phoenix and how it went off the rails, next week.

That report, which one senior bureaucrat said “can’t be anything but bad,” will be another black eye for government and how it manages. Some say it could further strengthen unions hand for damages and at collective bargaining, which is also gearing up for a new round this month.

Many argue contract negotiations would also be much easier if the government and unions had already settled the issue of damages. Trying to negotiate a new contract against the backdrop of damages will be highly complicated and contentious, and could delay reaching a contract.

Some say the discussions over damages lost steam with new senior management at Treasury Board Secretariat.

Long-time Treasury Board Secretary Yaprak Baltacıoğlu, widely respected and trusted by the unions, retired in April. She was replaced by Peter Wallace, Toronto’s city manager and a former top bureaucrat in Ontario who is still settling into his new job.

“I think the changeover in the secretary of Treasury Board has caused a delay in negotiations” said Debi Daviau, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC).

Daviau said discussions have also been difficult because the price-tag is a moving target until Phoenix is fixed, especially because new problems crop up all the time.

Whatever settlement, unions say it will have to be structured so that it can be re-opened if Phoenix drags on for several more years and continues to cause stress and financial hardship.

Daviau said a framework has to be developed that can address all the different problems employees have faced. The problems vary but some employees have dozens of outstanding issues sitting in their files that have to be fixed before they are paid accurately.

“There is no neat way to package the problems with Phoenix so there is going to have to be individual settlements …so we have to build a way to do that.,” said Daviau.

Daviau said the government seemed keener on settling when a Quebec law firm was awaiting a court decision on the right to public servants to launch a class action suit against the government for damages. Court documents estimate between 40,000 and 70,000

The lead plaintiff is Ezmie Bouchard, who worked at Passport Canada between January and August 2016.

That pressure was lifted in early April when a Quebec judge greenlighted the class action, but only for students, retirees and casual and term employees. Unionized employees, who have access to grievances to redress their Phoenix problems, are excluded from the suit. It’s estimated between 40,000 and 70,000 employees could be eligible to join the suit.

Bouchard’s lawyers have since launched an appeal to expand the class of workers eligible to join the suit to include non-unionized public servants who have a right of grievance, such as more than 6,400 executives working in government.

Public servants have taken various recourse measures against the government over Phoenix, which left thousands of employees underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all.

The 17 unions led the way, filing more than 40 policy grievances. The major grievances are over the government’s failure to implement collective agreements within the legal deadlines. They are others over the government’s failure to properly process disability, maternity leave, or properly remit the union dues that are owed to unions.

Unions have also filed at least six complaints of unfair labour practices with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.

They allege the government breached its duty to implement collective agreements and violated the statutory freeze provisions during collective bargaining by changing the terms and conditions of employment with introduction of Phoenix.

None of the grievances have been resolved and appear to have been put in abeyance while the unions and Treasury Board are negotiating damages.

The government also faces nearly 4,000 individual grievances that have been filed since Phoenix went live in February 2016. The main complaints are faulty pay for acting positions, overtime, vacation and employees’ job level.

The government has also faced workplace injuries complaints because of Phoenix and many are braced for an increase in mental health claims. The government’s disability claims of depression and anxiety already ranked among the highest in the country.