In an important victory for federal public service workers, an arbitration panel has ruled in favour of significant improvements to the Public Service Dental Care Plan (PSDCP) following an arbitration hearing on June 14. This binding arbitration award will lead to important changes to the plan, coming into effect January 1, 2025. 

Negotiations to improve the Public Service Dental Care Plan (PSDP) for over 185,000 PSAC members in the plan have broken down after Treasury Board refused to negotiate significant improvements to the plan in the latest round of bargaining.  

The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB) issued a decision stating that Treasury Board is acting in bad faith by refusing to come to the table to update the dental plan for over 185,000 PSAC members. This refusal prevents PSAC and Treasury Board from engaging in dialogue and discussion that is essential to the bargaining process. 

The Liberal government will introduce inflation relief legislation later this month that will rely on PSAC members to deliver important benefits targeted to help Canadians most affected by the rise in inflation.  The legislation will also start the process to finally set up a national dental program, which PSAC and the Canadian Labour Congress have been calling on the government to implement for years.