Phoenix problems worsen in wake of labour deals, MP says

The parliamentary secretary to the minister in charge of the troubled Phoenix pay systemis blaming recently ratified labour agreements for a glut of fresh cases that'sfurther straining effortsto fix a problem that appears to be growing by the day.

The backlog ofcomplaints from federal public servants who have been overpaid, underpaid or not paid at all hasballoonedby another 9,000since the beginning of August, bringing the total number of cases waiting to be resolved to 237,000.

Gatineau MP SteveMacKinnon, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Public Services and Procurement, blames new labour deals for the latest wave of complaints.

"We have this major bulge of collective bargaining work to do," MacKinnon told CBC Radio's Ontario Today on Monday. "We understand that people have been very patient and we have tried the patience of many public servants."

Raises, bonuses,backpay

The government recently settled contracts with unions representing 90 per cent of the public service workforce. It's now strugglingto implementthose negotiated changeswhich include raises,bonusesand retroactive pay, saidMacKinnon.

Once those issues have been addressed, he said the government will devote all its resources totacklingthe growing backlog ofPhoenix-relatedcases until itreachesa "steady state."

"We will solve this problemin theforeseeablefuture," saidMacKinnon.

As for when that might happen, MacKinnondeclined to provide a specific target, saying he was unwilling to"put a date out there that we're going to miss."

As CBC reported last week, nearly half of allfederal public servants paid through theproblem-plagued Phoenix system haveopened at least one file seeking redress for a pay issue.As of Aug. 8, there were 156,035 employees who had been waiting at least30 days to have apay complaint dealt with, according to data obtained byRadio-Canada.

Critics, including union leaders, accused the government of trying to hide those figures in an attempt to mask the true extent of the problem.

"Ican assure everyonethat this is no more motivated person in thegovernment of Canada than myself and my colleagues to make sure we are able to solve this problem for our hard working public servants," MacKinnon said Monday.

Cabinet shuffle

Former ministerJudy Foote announced her resignation from the federal cabinet last week, forcingPrime Minister Justin Trudeautoshuffle his cabinet Monday. MP Carla Qualtrough is now taking Foote's post at the helmof the department overseeing the Phoenix system.

"It's a very complex issue," said Qualtrough. "We appreciate this as a significant problem. My impression, having talked about it around the cabinet table, is that we are headed in the right directions, but there are many obstacles to overcome still."

Qualtrough toldpublic servants personally affected by pay problems that they deserveto be paid properly.

"I look forward to being briefed and working to remedy this as soon as possible for public servants who have been waiting so long to get this fixed," she said Monday.

'Pay bulletin' aimed at transparency

Also on Monday, aministerial working group tasked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fix the pay issues announced a new "pay bulletin"in an effort to be more transparent.

The bulletin shows the federal government's pay centre in Miramichi, N.B., is struggling to keep up with the constant flow of new cases. According to the website, 49 per centof the cases handled there are being dealt with within the prescribed time. That's an improvement over July, when just 35 per cent were resolved on time.

The repair bill for Phoenix has risen to about $402 million more than the $309.5-million cost of implementing the payroll system in the first place.

Have a Phoenix story to tell? Email: ashley.burke@cbc.ca