News release

October 22, 2003

Joint Study confirms that federal trades workers are underpaid

OTTAWA – A joint compensation study has confirmed that federal government trades workers are paid significantly lower rates than their counterparts working for private sector and other public sector employers.

Such are the findings of a study conducted by an independent firm for the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Treasury Board Secretariat. These 11,000 workers, from across the country, are members of PSAC Table 2 bargaining unit and employed by Treasury Board.

“We are confident that this study, commissioned both by the employer and the union, will put an end to management claims that our members who are trades employees are more highly paid than their counterparts, elsewhere in Canada,” indicated Jérôme Turcq, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for Quebec. “This new round of bargaining with Treasury Board is the ideal forum to close the widening gap between these groups.”

In addition, according to PSAC National President, Nycole Turmel, the PSAC-Treasury Board joint study is an extremely accurate evaluation of similar positions because it used factors that allow a true comparison between the two groups. “Contrary to the analysis published yesterday by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which stated that wages in the federal public sector employees are higher than in the private sector, the PSAC-Treasury Board joint study indicates that there is a negative gap in wages paid to our members.”

The National Compensation Survey of Operational Services Positions, conducted in March 2003 by the Montreal-based firm of Morneau-Sobeco, compared wages and benefits of some 31 trade positions in the federal public service with matching positions in the private sector and the public sector at the provincial and municipal level.

The Morneau-Sobeco study found an average wage of $21.41 an hour in matching positions in the outside market, while government workers across the 31 jobs surveyed averaged $17.78 an hour. The difference is $3.63 an hour, or 20% less for the federal workers than their counterparts.

“Our trades workers, electricians, firefighters, vehicle mechanics, and heating plant operators, to name only a few, are lagging behind their counterparts at the municipal and provincial level and in the private sector,” added Turcq. “Throughout the 1990s the government froze wages and passed back-to-work legislation affecting our members, with the result that their wages are lower than those of their counterparts. This situation must be rectified during this round of bargaining.”

The Morneau-Sobeco study analyzed data concerning 31 different positions held by 6,000 of the 11,000 trades workers employed by the federal government. They collected data from 172 different public and private sector employers, covering a total of nearly 38,000 employees. The wage gap found by the study is consistent with wage data presented by the PSAC to federal Conciliation Boards in both 1998 and 2001. Click here to read the PSAC analysis.

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Information :

Jérôme Turcq, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President
Quebec (514) 912-3020

Pierre Lebel, PSAC Communications officer, (613) 560-5482

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