Passport workers and some border staff were back at work Monday with the announcement that the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) had reached a tentative contract agreement with the Treasury Board covering more than 120,000 federal government workers across the country.

Public servants hit picket lines at locations across the country beginning April 19 in what the union said was one of the biggest job actions in Canadian history.

Service disruptions loomed large during the job action, from slowdowns at the border to pauses on new employment insurance, immigration, and (non-essential) passport applications.

Initial negotiations on a new collective agreement initially began in June 2021, and the union declared an impasse in May 2022, with both parties filing labour complaints since.

The union says the new contract agreement secured wage increases totalling 12.6% over four years and a pensionable $2,500 one-time lump sum payment that represents an additional 3.7% of salary for the average union member in Treasury Board bargaining units.

It says members will have access to additional protection when managers make arbitrary decisions about remote work and managers will have to assess remote work requests individually, not by group, and provide written responses.

PSAC says strike action continues for 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency workers nationwide, with contract negotiations ongoing.