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Ottawa’s move to add more workers to Phoenix payroll system slammed by union

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is criticizing a plan by Ottawa to move an additional 4,000 employees to the troubled Phoenix pay system as early as May 2020.

“The Phoenix pay system remains broken and unstable,” CUPE said in a press release. “It continues to cause Canadians irreparable financial hardship, mental anguish, and is destroying people’s lives. It is unconscionable and irresponsible for the government to willfully force more employees, who are currently on a working pay system, onto the Phoenix pay system.”

CUPE wants the government to resolve the “tens of thousands” of outstanding pay issues caused by problems with Phoenix.

“Instead, the government has spent significant time, money, and other resources preparing to force these additional employees onto the broken Phoenix pay system,” it said.

On Jan. 30, at an information session for RCMP employees, the government and the RCMP boasted about implementing more than 2,000 fixes to Phoenix and told employees in attendance that they have thoroughly tested their transition measures, according to CUPE.

“They refused to provide information about how effective these fixes have been and in some cases the fixes had only been implemented the night before the information session,” said CUPE.