Not seeing union members on the picket lines on the weekend doesn’t mean a deal has been reached between the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the federal government. 

Union members were not on the picket lines on the weekend but National President Chris Aylward says they are still on strike including members who are regularly scheduled to work on the weekend and if a deal isn’t reached today, workers will be back on the picket lines Monday morning.

PSAC’s National President Chris Aylward told the media on Saturday that the union had presented a comprehensive deal to the employer on Thursday night. 

A proposal that he says they thought could get them to a deal, but the union hasn’t heard back from the federal government.

The Government refutes this claim and in a statement says their negotiators tried to contact the union on Friday to discuss the proposal, but the union was unreachable. 

The federal government says they reached out again through the mediator to let PSAC know that a new offer would be presented at 1 p.m. Saturday. 

They say the union waited three hours to respond, then at 12:31 p.m. accepted the meeting but ten minutes later said they wouldn’t be available at that time.

Then the statement from the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada says Chris Aylward chose to call a news conference.