WHY NOT US?
Bargaining Team spends two days round the clock in meetings with management, only to be told at 5 am Thursday that we deserve less.
For two and a half years we have gone without a new contract. During that time Treasury Board has negotiated with and reached settlements with all other Treasury Board groups. This includes other federal law enforcement agency employees such as Parole Officers and Corrections workers. In the meantime we have been subjected to ultimatums, forced votes and attempts to by-pass our elected Bargaining Team. We have been indicating for months – since the spring, in fact – that we are ready to bargain. We have also indicated that we seek the same terms and conditions of employment as those that are currently in place for other federal law enforcement agency employees.
After the government’s forced vote was thrown out by the federal court we again reiterated our willingness to meet and bargain. After weeks of delay Treasury Board finally agreed to meet. We met with them over the last two days – Tuesday the 8th through to 5 am on Thursday the 10th. There was much discussion on the issues outstanding between the parties. Early Thursday morning Treasury Board/CBSA indicated that the government is not prepared to agree to improvements to our collective agreement that reflect what was agreed to for Corrections Canada workers two months ago. This when Corrections workers already enjoy superior pension benefits compared to FB workers. We work in the same department, the same ministry, for the same government. We keep Canadians safe. We deserve better than this.
We continue to be ready to negotiate and are willing to set additional dates for bargaining. But we are not second class federal workers. We deserve the same as others – no more, and certainly no less. We deserve a fair contract.
