Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

Mental health matters: Introducing the Before Operational Stress program for CBSA workers

As in past years, sustained calls for better mental health resources and an improved support infrastructure continue to echo, highlighting the still pressing need for well-funded and accessible services to ensure the well-being of Canadians everywhere — including in the workplace. Indeed, studies have shown unequivocally that Canadians want increased funding for mental health, with issues stemming from stressful, toxic work environments remaining all too present.

**The Before Operational Stress program**

Frontline officers and public safety workers, including CBSA personnel, often face mental health challenges specific to their profession. As a union, we’ve been active in pushing the Agency to do more to support its workforce and find solutions to issues that contribute to — or outright cause — lasting mental health problems.

In a recent positive development, CIU and the CBSA Wellness Division have been working together to give our members access to a bold mental health initiative specifically developed with public safety personnel in mind — Wayfound‘s Before Operational Stress (BOS) program. As per the program’s description:

[BOS] uniquely combines theoretical and experiential learning procedures to mitigate the effects of operational stress. As we work to continue to understand the impact of operational stress, our evidence tells us we can provide tools to proactively cushion the impact of public safety personnel’s work so that they can do their jobs without tragic consequences. While it is understood that public safety employees will inevitably be exposed to operational stress, that does not mean they are destined to have their lives ruined by the psychological effects of their work.

Through Wayfound and with the help of CIPSRT, 8,000 free spots have been made available to CBSA workers so that they may benefit from the BOS program.

Click here for more information on how to register. Please note that this fully confidential, self-directed program is run by an independent 3^rd party. Neither CBSA nor the union can access the information you choose to share as part of the BOS initiative. We encourage all our members to participate, and to contact their local manager to complete this program while at work.

You are not alone

When facing a difficult situation at work or at home, remember that you are not alone. People around you can be a source of support, and your union is there to assist and help you find the resources you need. As CBSA employees, you can also contact LifeWorks for confidential assistance — be it for advice, counselling or treatment (for more information about LifeWorks and other resources, see our Mental Health page). PSAC has also published a list of resources to assist you if you feel overwhelmed, are struggling with stress, or are facing mental health difficulties.

Just like physical well-being, mental health matters, in any setting.

Changes to PSAC default dues rates, March 1: Explainer

PSAC is updating the default level of dues from $20 per pay to $35 for full time employees and from $20 to $12.50 for part-time employees as of March 1, 2023.

It will only affect new members hired on or after March 1, 2023 who work for Treasury Board (EB, PA, SV, TC, FB groups), and Agencies such as CRA, Parks Canada and CFIA. This does not apply to members in Directly Chartered Locals (DCL).

This change will have no impact on members already paying dues before March 1, 2023.

Understanding the default rate

As the amount in monthly union dues can vary greatly from one member to another, PSAC has provided guidance to compensation advisors to start the union dues at a default amount adjusted based on employees’ status as full-time or part-time. This is an interim amount to be paid until such time as your correct dues have been calculated by PSAC.

To do this, PSAC receives information from your employer that will allow it to determine the amount in union dues you should be paying. This is based on the 1st step salary of your classification and the various dues rates set at your local, component and PSAC level. If the information provided by your employer to PSAC is insufficient (for example, the employer does not provide your classification), it is impossible for PSAC to determine your dues. Your dues may remain at the default amount for longer than necessary until all the information is received.

The correct calculation of your union dues is also related to whether you have been allocated to the correct component and local. This may take up to 3 months, on average.
When a PSAC member starts a job in the federal public service, the employer’s pay system starts deducting a minimum dues amount immediately with what is known as a default level of dues. Later, the employer will deduct the difference between the default dues and the actual dues amount back to the date of hire.

Until PSAC receives the required information from the employer, it uses the default rate to start dues payments in order to reduce the amount of any arrears the member might owe, once the actual rate is calculated and applied. This update will help reduce the typical gap between default and actual dues, minimizing dues recovery.

For more information about membership dues, please see our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

We’re in this together: Strike votes for 120,000 PSAC members

Since the beginning of the pandemic, you and other PSAC members have stepped up by helping Canadians when they needed it most — whether your work got done from home or the workplace.

But instead of showing their appreciation for workers at the bargaining table, all we’ve seen from Treasury Board is total disrespect and disregard for the issues that matter most to PSAC members.

That’s why we’ve made the difficult decision to hold strike votes for 120,000 hard-working federal public service workers in the Program and Administrative Services, Operational Services, Technical Services, and Education and Library Science bargaining groups from February 22 to April 19, 2023.

Register to vote

We need to hold the line on fair wages that will prevent you from falling further behind as the cost of living increases. We believe in good, secure public service jobs, and an end to contracting out and privatization within the federal public service. We’re calling for solutions to harassment, discrimination and systemic racism in the workplace, so all workers feel safe on the job. And we’ll continue to fight to enshrine remote work and the right to disconnect in our collective agreements for better work-life balance.

Good wages. Protection from discrimination. Safe workplaces. Work-life balance. Is that too much to ask? We don’t think so.

Unfortunately, Treasury Board is hell-bent on pushing through serious concessions that impact your rights, including reducing job security and access to some leaves. And their insulting wage offer of 2.06% per year over four years is asking more than 120,000 hard-working PSAC members to take a big pay cut

To add insult to injury, the government imposed a flawed hybrid work plan on federal public service workers just days before the holidays, even though we’re negotiating remote work at the table and we’ve continued to serve Canadians effectively regardless of where the work gets done.

You deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Treasury Board’s stalling tactics and demands for major concessions are unacceptable and are hurting our members and their families. That’s why we need your support.

Register to vote

Going on strike is never our first choice and it doesn’t mean we’ll automatically call one. But securing a strong strike mandate from our membership shows we’re willing to fight and will give us the leverage we need to reach a fair and decent contract. And if we need to take job action to get the collective agreement you deserve, then that’s exactly what we’ll do.

Together, we have the strength in numbers to fight for a contract that makes real gains for our members. This is our opportunity to make a meaningful difference in our workplaces, and we strongly urge you to vote in favour of a strike mandate. To give you as many opportunities as possible to participate in strike votes, we’ll be holding strike information sessions both in-person and virtually.

Your voting credentials will be sent to your personal, non-work email or by mail to your home address if we don’t have a personal email on file. You will need these credentials to register for a strike vote session. All virtual sessions are national votes, so you may register for any virtual session. If you haven’t received your voting credentials from PSAC via your personal, non-work email or mail, you may need to update your contact information before you can register to vote.

Thank you for your continued support.

In solidarity,

Chris Aylward
National President
Public Service Alliance of Canada

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

PSAC announces strike votes for more than 120,000 federal workers

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is launching nationwide strike votes for more than 120,000 federal public service workers after talks broke down over wages and other key issues. Strike votes for members in the Program and Administrative Services, Operational Services, Technical Services, and Education and Library Science bargaining groups will be conducted from February 22 to April 19, 2023.

“Everyone deserves fair pay and safer workplaces. Together, we’re taking a stand for workers,” said Chris Aylward, PSAC national president. “Wages are stalled, the cost of living is rising, and workers are being left behind. Workers can’t wait. None of us can.”

After more than a year of negotiations, PSAC declared impasse in bargaining in May 2022 after the government made a wage offer of 2.06% per year that’s completely out of touch with record-high inflation over the past two years. The government then refused to compromise during mediation in September and Public Interest Commission (PIC) hearings in December.

The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board is expected to release its PIC reports this winter with their non-binding recommendations to reach an agreement. After the Commission issues its reports, PSAC will be in a legal strike position if members vote in favour of a strike mandate.

“Federal public service workers have been here when Canadians needed them most – seeing us through one crisis after another,” said Aylward. “Now, the government needs to be here for workers, because while they stall on making things right, we all pay the price.”

PSAC and the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) recently announced strike votes for 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency workers. In total, PSAC represents more than 165,000 federal public service workers at impasse in negotiations with the federal government moving towards job action to secure a contract that protects workers from the rising cost of living, offers better work-life balance, protection from harassment, racism and discrimination in the workplace and ends the contracting out of public service jobs.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada is Canada’s largest federal public service union, representing nearly 230,000 workers in every province and territory in Canada, including more than 120,000 federal public service workers employed by Treasury Board. Our members are the backbone of Canada’s public services – protecting our borders, inspecting our food, providing vital social services and ensuring our vast lands and oceans are safe and sustainable.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

TC group: PIC report offers no guidance

A Public Interest Commission (PIC) report has been issued for the TC group following the hearing held on December 9, 2022. Unfortunately, the report provides no substantive guidance aside from recommending that the bargaining team should continue to negotiate.

Read the PIC report

However, the federal government has refused to budge, including on an employer wage offer that would deliver a pay cut to nearly 11,000 federal public service workers in the TC group at a time of record high inflation and a looming recession.

Under the law that governs contract negotiations in the federal public service, a PIC is established to help the parties reach an agreement once impasse is declared at the bargaining table. This PIC has clearly not moved the needle with the employer and has delayed negotiation for TC group members.

We have seen the same kind of slow progress across other tables from Treasury Board since the beginning of negotiations in June 2021.

Despite recent public statements from Treasury Board, there has been no agreement to return to the bargaining table. There’s no doubt the best way to reach a fair contract is at the table. But it’s becoming clearer every day — reaching a fair agreement with this government is going to take a strong strike mandate from our members. Workers can’t wait.

Register for upcoming townhalls

At the end of January, you will have three opportunities to meet with members, researchers and negotiators from your national bargaining team to ask questions, share your concerns, and hear about how your team is escalating actions across the country to reach a fair deal.

Sign up now:

Your support is key to our success as we negotiate your new contract during this round of Treasury Board bargaining and continue to fight for fair wages, work-life balance, good, secure jobs and inclusive workplaces. Keep your information updated for the latest bargaining news, download our bargaining toolkit to stay informed and engaged, and sign up for strike training to be prepared.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.