News release

July 16, 2003

Statistical Survey Interviewers closer to a strike date

OTTAWA – The Public Service Alliance of Canada says that Statistics Canada’s surveys and reputation are being put in jeopardy by Statistical Survey Operations’ refusal to negotiate a fair collective agreement with its workers, forcing them to strike.  

“Statistical Survey Operations (SSO) has put our members in a second-class category and they’re not going to take it any more,” according to National Executive Vice-President John Gordon.   “The wage gap between SSO interviewers and comparable workers at Statistics Canada and in the federal public sector is already at least 35 percent.   With PSAC negotiations scheduled to begin in September with Treasury Board, that gap is just going to continue to widen.”  

The PSAC represents Regional Office Interviewers at Statistical Survey Operations.   Their work involves interviewing members of the public by telephone and gathering data from Canadians from coast to coast to coast, including businesses, farmers and families.   The data gathered is used in a wide variety of Statistics Canada surveys and is used to produce national economic indicators such as the unemployment rate and the Consumer Price Index.    

Negotiations for the Regional Office Interviewers, including meetings with a Conciliation Officer, have failed to produce a settlement.   PSAC is currently appearing before a three-person Conciliation Board that has been established to hear submissions from both the union and the employer on the outstanding bargaining issues.   The hearings are taking place from July 16 to 18 inclusive.  

“The Regional Office Interviewers have voted over 90% in favour of strike action to back up their demands,” declares Gordon.   “If Statistical Survey Operations is going to continue to underpay and undervalue its workers, the employer must take the responsibility for the damage a strike will do to the integrity and international reputation of Statistics Canada’s surveys.”  

“The Conciliation Board will issue a report which could form the basis for a settlement.   However, if a settlement is not reached, our members will be in a legal position to take strike action as early as seven days after the report is received.”  

“Overall, the union is seeking parity for its SSO members in terms of pay, benefits and working conditions,” says Gordon.   “Most of the issues in dispute for the Regional Office Interviewers are monetary and include pay increases, leave, evening, weekend and second language premium rates.   Many of the Regional Office Interviewers are employed on a part-time basis.   For this reason, we want annual pay increments to be based on 52 weeks of service, which is now the practice for Treasury Board workers, instead of 1,950 hours.”  

The PSAC agreement with SSO expired on November 30, 2001 .   Negotiations started in January 2002.  

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For information:

John Gordon, PSAC National Executive Vice-President,
(613) 560-4310

Ed Cashman, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President
(National Capital Region) (613) 560-4380

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