CRA workers stressed out and anxious after restructuring news, union says

The head of the union representing workers at the Canada Revenue Agency says there's a high level of stress and anxiety in taxation offices across the country after the government announced yesterday it will be streamlining operations.

• CRA tax centre changes to affect about 550 Ottawa workers
• Changes coming to CRA tax centres as agency moves to 'streamline processing'

"It was very stressful at the taxation centres when they were told," said Bob Campbell, national president of the Union of Taxation Employees. "We don't know the effect that will have on the rest of our members, our term employees that are spread out. This is going to change the workflow, but there wasn't any consultation done with the union."

Campbell said the union doesn't have a lot of details, but he knows 2,396 full-time workers were given work force adjustment notices across the country.

This is not a lay off, but people will have to reapply for positions as processing locations change and are consolidated. Workers will have six months to decide whether to take a job at a tax centre in another part of the country or accept a new post in an office within a 40-kilometre radius.

Campbell said over the past several weeks, workers across the country were hearing rumours that cuts were coming, but he said management wouldn't respond when the union asked for confirmation.

Term positions in danger

"The bigger problem is how much this is going to affect our term positions ... CRA is using more terms than they ever have," said Campbell.

Term workers are people who are hired for defined periods of time, usually for several months.

In Ottawa, 550 permanent jobs will be affected at the Ottawa Technology Centre and the International Tax Services Office.

The Canada Revenue Agency calls the announcement "a renewal."

In a release, Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue, said the move will improve the way Canadians engage with the agency by streamlining the processing, now that more Canadians are filing taxes online.

"The CRA needs to adapt to this reality in order to continue offering world-class services," reads the agency's news release.

The statement says the government recognizes the need to "work closely with unions and local partners to assist those individuals – and their families – impacted by this transition."

But the union disagrees that there's been consultation on this process so far.

"It's a been a rough little period for us, we've just gone through four years of negotiations with CRA. Then this announcement is made ... five weeks before Christmas," said Campbell who added that the union is still without a current contract.

Workers at processing centres across the country including Surrey, Winnipeg, Sudbury, Jonquière, Shawinigan, Summerside, St. John's and Ottawa will be affected.