All PSAC members working at Canada Border Services Agency will receive Phoenix damages compensation while bargaining continues for FB members.
Last year, PSAC rejected the government’s meagre Phoenix settlement offer of five days of cashable leave because it wasn’t equitable and was far too little to compensate for the damage caused by the disastrous pay system.
Instead, PSAC negotiated a far better Phoenix damages agreement that provides a $2,500 lump sum payment to be distributed to all PSAC members who have been directly or indirectly impacted by the Phoenix pay system. This new agreement is a substantial improvement from the five days of leave accepted by CSN/UCCO-SACC, PIPSC and all other federal bargaining agents.
The agreement – which all PSAC members at CBSA will receive independent of the bargaining process – will help make PSAC members whole for over four years of hardships caused by the Phoenix pay system.
The agreement has three main elements:
- General damages compensation for all (i.e.: the $2,500 lump sum);
- An improvement to the current claims process for out-of-pocket expenses and financial losses;
- Compensation for severe impacts and other demonstrable cases.
Due to the work required to implement new collective agreements and retroactive pay for over 120,000 PSAC members, we anticipate a delay, but the employer has committed to balancing these priorities in order to process Phoenix damages as soon as possible.
For greater details please read our summary of the deal and review our FAQ.
Dates set for FB negotiations
Our bargaining team is scheduled to return to negotiations from September 23 to 25. We remain at odds with CBSA/Treasury Board over several issues – from shift scheduling and firearm practice time to leave with income averaging and protections against excessive discipline on the part of CBSA management. Due to the timeline of the previous round of bargaining, we are currently at an earlier stage in the process compared to other federal tables that recently reached tentative agreements.
As always, we are committed to achieving a fair contract that makes CBSA a better place to work.
To review the package of proposals that we tabled as well as those of the employer, visit psacunion.ca/fb-group and ciu-sdi.ca/issue/fb-group-bargaining. We’ll continue to provide updates throughout the bargaining process.
The original version of this article was first posted on the PSAC website.
