A union representing federal workers has temporarily called off talks with the government, accusing the Harper Conservatives of acting illegally to change sick leave provisions for civil servants. Public Service Alliance of Canada president Robyn Benson says the union walked away from bargaining after the government introduced proposed changes to sick leave as part of its budget implementation bill. (Bill C-59, introduced last Thursday, would give the government the ability to unilaterally create a new short-term and long-term disability program. Proposed changes to sick leave provided to federal civil servants are among the most contentious issues at stake in contract talks with public service unions, including P-SAC.)

Date: 2015-05-12
Placeline: OTTAWA.
Source: The Canadian Press
Length: 20 seconds

Transcript Prediction: << we decided that for this week are we will not attend any meetings with treasury board we're we're going to re-evaluate where we are in terms of returning in June but at this point in time the actions of this government has made it impossible for us to go and collectively bargain with them in any meaningful way >>

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