Public servant deals with months-long wait for strike pay from her union

A federal public servant says she is still waiting for the local chapter of her union to pay her the entire sum of the strike pay she was promised more than six months ago.

On April 19, Ottawa's Amber Ellis joined more than 120,000 federal public servants on picket lines for a strike that would eventually last 12 days.

• Are you still waiting for your strike pay? Let us know.

Ellis was a member of Local 70380 at the time, which is part of the Union of National Employees (UNE), which in turn is a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

While Ellis has received $600 in strike pay from PSAC, she says she has yet to receive any of the $600 top-up she's owed by her local chapter.

"That's half my paycheque." said Ellis. "It delayed my rent, it stopped me from being able to buy groceries and pay for my prescriptions for that month, and I'm still playing catch-up."

Ellis shared with CBC an email she received from a member of the local union executive dated April 18 (one day before the strike) stating the union had voted on April 12 to pay each member a $75 top-up for every day they joined a picket line.

She estimates, since June, she has sent her local, UNE and PSAC more than 50 emails, placed dozens of calls and posted dozens of messages on their respective Facebook pages pleading for an update.

"I hit a brick wall every time," said Ellis. "They're always like, 'oh, we'll have to get back to you, we've got to verify something.'"

The various levels have told Ellis they needed to confirm she was on strike, that she participated in the picket line each day, and that she was indeed a member of Local 70380 during the strike, all of which she says she has demonstrated.

"It's very defeating," she added. "I'm just looking for an answer."

Union's communication criticized 

On its website UNE states it does not have a strike fund of its own, and as such does not provide a strike top-up. Local branches may vote to issue one to their members.

In addition to the April 18 email Ellis received, a post dated June 4 on the Local 70380 Facebook page informs members their local executive spent the weekend entering the banking information of members in order to process the top-up payments. 

The same Facebook post also asks members for patience, and goes on to describe the executive as volunteers who hold full-time positions and who do this work during their spare time.

Over the summer, several members posted comments expressing frustration with a delay in being paid and a lack of communication.

It's unclear how many of Local 70380's roughly 1,500 members have received their top-up payment to date.

CBC heard from a member who said they finally received their top-up in early October after months of unanswered emails and phone calls being made to the national PSAC union.

Since that June 4 message, there have not been any more posts on the local's Facebook page.

"Just get back to people or put something up and make some sort of information known so people aren't just sitting there wondering [if they'll be paid]," she said.

UNE committed to ensuring payments, says national president

CBC reached out to the leadership team of Local 70380 but has yet to hear back.

UNE, which is the umbrella labour organization for 165 locals including 70380, said it is committed to ensuring Ellis and others receive the money they were promised.

"We want members to be able to get their top-ups as quickly as possible," said UNE national president Alisha Campbell. "Six months is not ideal, nobody wants to be waiting that long, and as a family we don't want any family member going through this."

Campbell declined to comment on specific cases, but did say the problem is often the result of out-of-date and inaccurate information about a member's place of employment and/or banking information.

She also said she understands their frustration and encouraged all members who are struggling to contact their local union to reach out to UNE's information line.

Ellis, who said she has been a union member for four years and always paid her union dues, said the issue is not just dollars and cents, but also respect. 

"I am living paycheque to paycheque so this matters, and not getting responses is kind of like, 'well, you really don't matter,'" she said.