PRESS RELEASE
Over the past few weeks, our union has been requesting more information from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) regarding measures to control its spending. In fact, we were receiving various reports and rumors, without any official confirmation from the employer.
Yesterday, the Agency informed all its employees that it was implementing new budgetary restraint measures to reduce spending in line with the federal government's “Refocusing Government Spending” initiative.
Shortly beforehand, the Agency informed us of this forthcoming announcement. During this meeting, we raised serious concerns about the impact of these cuts on the quality of public services offered to Canadians and on our members. Indeed, this announcement has a severe impact on the well-being and mental health of employees. It greatly amplifies the stress and anxiety experienced by thousands of our members, especially those who work on contract (term employment).
Employee morale, which was already very low following previous CRA announcements, including the imposition of a moratorium on the administrative conversion of term employees to indeterminate (permanent) status, will deteriorate further.
Unfortunately, it seems that the government is asking departments and agencies, including the CRA, to cut more from their operating budgets than previously announced. This is very concerning.
Among the measures proposed by the Agency are ending contracts or not renewing them when they expire, reducing training budgets and bringing interim appointments to a premature end.
One thing is clear: while the federal government is forcing the Canada Revenue Agency to make massive cuts in its operating budget, the significant human resources required to provide quality service to the public will not disappear. Taxpayers will continue to call customer service. They will continue to wait for answers to their tax adjustment requests, and to make other requests of all kinds.
By going ahead with these cuts, services to the public will deteriorate further, and the workload on the remaining employees will increase dramatically.
“This situation is extremely regrettable, and the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) strongly opposes these cuts to public services and denounces the impact this will have both on the services offered to the public and on the health and well-being of its members,” says Marc Brière, National President of the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE).
Our union requested and obtained a commitment from the Agency to hold regular meetings to keep us informed of the next steps in its cost-cutting plan.
It is important to note that we have not been consulted by the Agency as to the specific measures it intends to put in place, nor have we received any further details at this time.
Our union will continue to monitor the situation very closely in order to obtain more information, and we will reiterate our serious concerns and do everything in our power to limit the negative impact of these decisions.
Media Contact
Please contact Daniel Camara, Executive Assistant to the UTE National President, by email at camarad@ute-sei.org or by phone at (613) 290-1548, for all media requests.