[Update, May 3rd, 2013] Our FB bargaining team will be meeting Treasury Board/CBSA’s bargaining team in Ottawa on Monday. We will be sure to update as things progress. Be sure to check the FB Bargaining section regularly for updates.
[Update, May 1st, 2013] Our FB Bargaining Team has contacted Treasury Board and has proposed that the negotiating teams be reconvened at the bargaining table next week to review and discuss Treasury Board’s offer for the FB group. We’ll be sure to update as things progress.
This past Friday Treasury Board contacted our union and indicated that it had an offer for settlement that it wished to present. Both PSAC and CIU indicated that offers should be made at the bargaining table, with the parties’ negotiating teams, and that the union was prepared to set dates to meet and hear what CBSA/Treasury Board had to say. Treasury Board responded to this invitation to set dates and return to the bargaining table by dropping off its offer in an envelope at the PSAC office in Ottawa on Monday afternoon and contacting the union membership directly with “highlights” of its offer on Monday night. We
believe that this may constitute bargaining in bad faith and are consulting our legal counsel to determine next steps.
In the interim, our bargaining team will again be contacting management to set dates to meet and review CBSA/Treasury Board’s offer. Of course, the highlights contained in CBSA’s communications do not tell the whole story about the contents of the offer. To provide but one example, it would appear that – unlike our current agreement – any protections provided in the context of the arming initiative are to be subject to “operational requirements as determined by the employer” (i.e. at the discretion of CBSA management). Having said that, our Team will be seeking clarification from CBSA’s team on all matters in dispute
between the parties, including those contained in management’s offer. But out of respect for the collective bargaining process, we will be seeking that clarification at the bargaining table, with the bargaining teams.
We have not received a recommendation from the Public Interest Commission at this point. We will be sure to update as things progress.
