Miramichi Pay Centre gets visit from federal minister Judy Foote

Public Services Minister Judy Foote is expectedto be in Miramichi today to tour the federal government's beleaguered Pay Centre sitesamid the Phoenix payrolldebacle.

Foote will talk to employees at the Mill and Mall offices and will meet with local and provincial officials, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Foote's visit comes one day before MPs are scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on thebungled payroll systemthat has left 80,000 federal public servants acrossthe country with pay problems, or nopay at all.

Opposition parties demanded themeeting after hearingfrom thousands of affected constituents.

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University of New Brunswick studentAndrewPetryshyn, who is working at theSenate this summer, is among those left struggling to make ends meet until the pay issues are resolved.

He says he's owed about $3,000 and his savings are "reaching zero."

"I'm at my lowest;it's like the bottom of the barrel. I've had wrong deductions, improper recoveries and just now, nopay at all," hesaid.

"It's scary."

It's been extremely stressful.-AndrewPetryshyn, affected federalpublic servant

"You know,I would expect some sort of compensation or money that I can use to pay for food and basic amenities, but I have nothing," said Petryshyn, who is entering his final year ofkinesiologystudies.

"I was ready to finally have enough to pay for university and not have to take out a loan, but sadly now I'm further out of money and definitely will have to seek out a loan at a bank," he said.

"It's been extremely stressful."

Petryshyn says he doesn't care whether the Liberal government orformer Conservative government is to blame.

"I just want the issue solved right now," he said.

ScottBrison'disgusted'

Phoenix was initiated by Stephen Harper'sConservatives and was rolled out in phases under Prime Minister JustinTrudeau's watch earlier this year amidwarnings fromthe largest union representing federal public servants that there would beproblems.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada said thousands of its members experienced problems duringthe first phase of the rollout,which began in late February,and in April the union urged the Liberals not to move aheadwith the next phase.

On Tuesday,Treasury Board PresidentScottBrisoncontinued to point blame at the Conservatives for "delayed modernization of the payroll system" followed byimplementation of the new system not being "handled properly."

"While we inherited this from the previous government, we understand fully our responsibility to fix it,"theKings-HantsMP told CBC Newsduringan interview in Halifax.

"We're the employer. And it's pretty basic stuff that you pay your employees on time. And accurately. I'm personally disgusted with the situation," he said.

Brison saidFooteand her department "are working night and day" to fix the system.

Supporting local workers

Miramichi-Grand Lake MP Pat Finnigan says he hopes to have the problems at the centre fixed quickly.

"The priority for me is to make sure the employees here get all the support they need because they are hard working and it's certainly taken a toll on them," he told Information Morning Moncton.

"This is why I asked the minister to come and meet with the workers, meet with the management," he said.

Finnigan says he wants the workers to knowthe federal government is supporting them.

He says many of the workers are confident the problems at the centre can be fixed, but because the story has been reported in the national news many are stressed.

"It's tough on them because some people think it's the employees. And at the end of the day it's not," he said.

"They want to fix this as much as anybody else."

Advisers stressed, on leave

Last week,Trudeaupromised to fixthe system, appointing Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick to overseethe system's functioning and resolve all payment errors.

Earlier this month, Footecalled on Auditor General Michael Ferguson to examine the planning and implementation of Phoenix.

The federal government has also opened a temporary facility in Gatineauto help offload the files piling up on the desks of Miramichi workers since the system was implemented in February.

Pay Centre employeesare so stressed out dealing with the problem-plagued system and backlog of cases that dozens of them are on leave, according to the union and people working at the centre.

Of the 590 positions, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) estimated earlier this weekthere are more than 50 people currently on long-term leave believed to be stress-related.

The unions representing federal workerssaythere used to be about 2,700 compensation advisers across the countryserving 300,000 employees before the consolidation of the offices and the move to Miramichi.

Today, the government says,there are 442 compensation advisersin Miramichi.