Government says it’s working to resolve massive union dues shortfall
OTTAWA — The federal government says it’s trying to figure out how much its troubled electronic pay system has shortchanged the unions representing thousands of civil servants facing unforeseen pay issues.
But officials aren’t saying whether the unions will be granted emergency payments like those being offered to workers who’ve been improperly paid through the Phoenix pay system.
For the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), it’s become an “extreme” problem, says the union’s national president, Debi Daviau.
The union, which represents more than 50,000 federal workers including accountants, engineers and scientists, said it’s owed nearly $2 million in unpaid dues from its members that have been collected by the government but not handed over, or not collected at all.