The Regional Executive Vice-President for Public Service Alliance of Canada says they don't want to strike and would rather have a fair deal.
Craig Reynolds is reacting after it was announced Wednesday that members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada have voted in favour of a strike mandate.
The 120,000 PSAC members can now launch a strike anytime in the next 60-days.
Speaking on AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides, Reynolds says that they are looking for wage increases, work places free of discrimination, remote work policies as PSAC employees were legislated back to work, as well as for the government to stop privatization of services.
PSAC is asking for a 13.5 per cent raise over three-years, while the Treasury Board is offering 8.25 per cent over four-years.
The announcement of the vote result comes after workers at the Canada Revenue Agency voted for their own strike mandate last Friday.
He says the Treasury Board is offering a notable wage difference compared to what the PSAC is asking for.
"There is a significant gap, but if you look at the rate of inflation and everything, on what they're offering, it doesn't add up. Our members will suffer as a result of the government not wanting to offer a wage increase in line with the rate of inflation."
Reynolds says employees from coast to coast will be affected.
"We have a big office in Windsor, right, over 200 workers. I just want to emphasize the object for us is not to go on strike, it's to get a fair contract. And our members at CRA, they're working right now, they're continuing to process files and going through the process. So our hope is that we will get a contract that's fair to everyone."
He says it's about more than just wages.
"We want work places that are free from discrimination. What we're asking in that regard is for training to be made mandatory across the workplace. We're also looking for remote work policies that make sense, our workers have shown and our members have shown that they can work from home throughout the pandemic, yet, the government chose to legislate them back to work."
The country-wide employees are comprised of a wide range of jobs and include administrative employees at the Canada Border Services Agency which could mean back-ups at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge in the event of job action.
The union and the government are back at the bargaining table this week.
If the strike occurs, it could be one of the largest strikes in Canadian history.
-with files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides