N.L. coast guard hit hardest by flawed Phoenix payroll system, PSAC says

Public service employees are banding together in St. John's Thursday to pressure Judy Foote, minister of public services and procurement, to fix the federal government's problematic new pay system.

"Minister Foote has been somewhat absent on this file, which is not encouraging at all," said Chris Aylward, national executive vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

• Liberals agree to emergency meeting Thursday over Phoenix payroll mess
• Phoenix pay system mess affects 80,000, government officials say

The Phoenix payroll system, designed by IBM, has experiencedongoing problems since it was first introduced in February. More than 80,000 public servants have experienced issues with their payabout 30 per cent of the federal government's workforce.

Aylward said the unionhas received many complaints from workers in Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly from members of the coast guard.

"We have members who work with the Canadian Coast Guard who go out to sea for sometimes four, five, six weeks. If they're out to sea for six weeks, that's three pay periods [missed]," he said.

"They didn't get paid for either one of those three pay days, and utilities are being cut off because when they're out at sea, they have no access to their pay information. They have no access to online banking."

Aylward said bills are oftengoing unpaid, and that creates an anxious atmosphere for workers.