'We have members eating at the food bank': Workers want payroll fiasco fixed
Phoenix pay system still plaguing workers at Summerside tax centre
Workers from Canada Revenue Agency's tax centre in Summerside, P.E.I., gathered at the city's waterfront Tuesday to call for action on the problems with its computerized payroll system that have been plaguing public servants for more than a year now.
They're among thousands of public servants affected by glitches in the federal government's Phoenix payroll system.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) shuttled busloads of workers from the Pope Road office complex to Green's Shore, where the union served a picnic lunch and encouraged employees to sign postcards to the federal government calling for a solution.
'They expect to be paid'
People come to work and they expect to be paid. It's not difficult. It should not take two years to fix.— Heather Ford
"I mean these are big issues. We have members eating at the food bank and these are working employees for the federal government," said Heather Ford, a tax centre employee and PSAC representative.
"The whole premise behind working is very easy … people come to work and they expect to be paid. It's not difficult. It should not take two years to fix," she said.
Phoenix a problem for more than a year
Problems with the Phoenix pay system began to surface when it was rolled out last spring. Some people weren't paid, while others were paid too much and are now on the hook to pay back their employer thousands of dollars.
The federal government employs about 2,500 PSAC members on P.E.I.
Employees in Summerside said they are now reluctant to take parental leave or alter their employment status in any way, fearing new payroll glitches will emerge.
"Every person at some point in time has had issues from the Phoenix issues," said Ford, referring to her 1,100 co-workers at the tax centre.
The federal government said its hiring of summer students is now adding to the workload as it continues to work out the problems.
Federal government adds additional staff
A written update issued by the federal government on June 2 stated 345,000 payroll transactions currently need to be addressed.
The government said it has added 90 people at its pay centre in Miramichi, N.B., to work on solutions, in addition to 140 staff new staff in satellite offices around the country.
PSAC announced it is staging a boycott of National Public Service Week, which is now underway, because of the unresolved problems with pay system.
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