Unions Launch Campaign against Government ‘Myths’ on Sick Leave

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Several federal unions have assembled to run a pre-emptive campaign to save sick leave and are preparing to challenge the Conservative government’s “myths” about public servants’ absenteeism. The unions are formulating a critical round of collective bargaining talks to replace existing benefits with a new short-term disability plan.

The large unions are gearing up by posting facts, information and arguments on their websites to explain their support for the existing accumulated sick-leave system and refuting the government’s claims that the benefits are too costly and outdated. On the other hand, the government has indicated that it plans to implement a new short-term disability plan that would help get employees back to work faster and in better health. The president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, Claude Poirier, has initiated a “myth buster” campaign that highlights true facts that he claims the government has deliberately distorted to win public opinion.

The union, which includes economists and statisticians, enlists nine such myths that are being distributing to members, MPs, senators and the public. Poirier stated that “we’re trying to counter public opinion. The minister used so many wrong figures to convince the public that we are abusing the system and we have to respond to that and correct the facts. We are fact people, our members deal with statistics and economics when doing policy and planning and they cannot stand to see something disseminated in the public if it is wrong.”