The strike that began on April 19. PSAC has instructed its members to return to work as of 9 AM Eastern Time this morning, or their next available shift.
PSAC, says the tentative agreement includes higher wages which will close the gap with inflation, new and improved language relating to working from home, among other favourable provisions for its members.
According to IRCC notes “There may still be some service impacts over the next few days and weeks as services return to full capacity. We will continue to update this page during the labour disruption to tell you how services are impacted.”
The strike, has impacted delay in several areas of the immigration processing system, such as:
- Processing applications
- In-person appointments or events including citizenship ceremonies
- Contacting IRCC via email, phone or social media
- Consular citizenship and passport services
- Passport services in Canada
- Access to Information Act requests
- Grants and contributions services.
During the strike, it was still possible to apply online to IRCC to extend a stay in Canada. Despite the strike, IRCC held its regularly scheduled Express Entry draw last Wednesday in which it invited an additional 3,500 candidates to apply for permanent residence with minimum CRS of 483.
Employment and social development Canada (ESDC) also reported disruptions to the temporary foreign workers as well as Biometric collections and LMIA issuance.
According to the union the strike did happen since negotiation with the authority did not satisfy their fair requirements which was only based on seeking fair wages, a better work-life balance, more workplace inclusivity, and reduced layoffs through the creation of more jobs, rather than contracting positions to private organizations.
Among the “deal breakers,” Union members wanted to continue to work remotely, as they had been throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. PSAC said public service workers were as effective working remotely as when they were in the office and that 90% of workers want to continue working remotely.
On the other hand, according to the Government these demands, would severely impact the ability to deliver services to Canadians and would limit its ability to effectively manage employees within the public service.
