Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

FB bargaining: Parties move to mediation, dates scheduled in June

bargaining-FB-négos

As mobilization at worksites across the country continues, the FB bargaining team will continue to push back against concessions and fight for fair wages and better working conditions. Mediation sessions have been scheduled starting on June 3.

The bargaining team is determined to win a fair agreement that includes fair wages, access to telework for non-uniformed members, stronger job protections, protections from contracting out, and equitable retirement benefits.

Treasury Board and CBSA are feeling the pressure

Everything you do in the workplace – no matter how big or small – to show the employer you support our bargaining team makes a difference as we push for a fair contract.

You have the right to wear union materials on the job

This is confirmed by two Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board decisions. You also have the right to be kept informed and take action during non-work time, before or after shifts and during paid and unpaid breaks and lunch periods.

Wearing baseball caps, nametags, or lanyards shows managers you support our bargaining demands and – after two years without a collective agreement – are prepared to take job action to reach a fair deal. Every action is reported up the chain and pushes CBSA to come to the table with a fair offer.

Public Interest Commission hearings complete

PSAC made a presentation to the Public Interest Commission (PIC) on April 10 and pushed back against employer concessions on April 22. In the coming weeks, the PIC board will provide a non-binding recommendation to reach an agreement.  While federal legislation provides for the PIC to issue its recommendation within 30 days of the hearing, the chair may extend that timeline.

PSAC will be in a legal position to take strike action seven days after receiving the report, if a strike mandate is received from the membership.

PSAC to pursue legal action over telework mandate

Telework is currently a critical issue at the table. Any changes to your terms and conditions of work while in bargaining directly undermines collective bargaining rights. In response to the announcement last week, PSAC has filed an unfair labour practice complaint.

Strike vote ongoing

PSAC and CIU continue to hold a nationwide strike vote for the FB group April 10 to May 15. It’s time to show CBSA that we are prepared to take job action to reach a fair deal.

Be sure to keep your contact information up to date to receive all the latest updates. If you have any questions, please contact your Customs and Immigration Union branch president or visit the CIU and PSAC websites.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

PSAC members furious over three-day in-person mandate, union to pursue legal action

PSAC logo SCFP

Today, with blatant disregard for the wellbeing of its workers, the government announced that come September, federal public service workers will be required to be in-office a minimum of three days per week.

PSAC members are incredibly frustrated and angered by this announcement. In every corner of the country, we have seen how the current in-office requirements aren’t being consistently or equitably managed by most departments.

We hear time and time again from workers obligated to report to offices where instead of conducting in-person work, they spend all day on virtual meetings with colleagues across the country.

In many offices our members are regularly forced to camp out in cafeterias or cram into awkward hallway meetings because of a shortage of available workspaces, and these problems will only continue to pile up.

Despite this, Treasury Board confirmed on a call today with bargaining agents that they are planning to proceed with reducing 50% of existing government office space. Their decision is not just a misstep; it’s a failure by Canada’s largest employer to adapt, innovate, and truly lead in the face of change to the way work is done.

As recently as last week, PSAC and other unions specifically requested an update at the National Joint Council about the allegations that there may be a change to the policy. Treasury Board officials blatantly misled unions, denying any upcoming announcements about telework.

In addition, as part of PSAC’s agreement in the last round of negotiations, Treasury Board was obligated to consult with the union with the purpose of reviewing the outdated Directive on Telework. However, at no point during those discussions was there any indication of an increase to in-office attendance.

This decision has not only broken the trust between PSAC members and their employer, but very concretely, it violates the collective bargaining rights of thousands of workers.

Telework is currently a critical issue at the table for the FB group, currently holding strike votes across the country for more than 9,000 members at Canada Border Services Agency. Any changes to their terms and conditions of work while bargaining directly undermines their collective bargaining rights.

In response, PSAC will be filing an unfair labour practice complaint and examining additional legal options.

PSAC will be updating members and taking further action in the coming days.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

National Day of Mourning — April 28

photo of candle with the words 'national day of mourning'

April 28 is the National Day of Mourning. On that day, we will join over 100 countries in remembering those who have lost their lives due to work-related causes.

Every year, people across the globe die as a result of unsafe working conditions, insufficient health and safety measures and protection equipment, and poorly implemented policies. All too often, these deaths could have been avoided. In Canada, hundreds of workplace fatalities are still recorded.

Despite important improvements to workplace safety standards over the last century — thanks in large part to continued union efforts — much work remains to be done to ensure that all workers are adequately protected against preventable work-related accidents or illness.

At CBSA, new and continued challenges — such as increased reliance on untrained personnel, insufficient staffing, and new workplace risks associated with emerging detention duties — highlight the need for workers to keep pushing for adequate training, policies and protective equipment to mitigate potentially hazardous situations. Stronger provisions around toxic workplace culture and bullying from management are also needed to ensure the mental and physical health and safety of our members.

The Customs and Immigration Union attaches great importance to its members’ health and safety, and we will continue to do everything we can to protect them from harm. Given the dangers that so many workers are still confronting today, let us all observe a moment of silence at 11:00 a.m. on the National Day of Mourning.

FB bargaining: Bargaining team rejects concessions at Public Interest Commission hearings as strike votes continue

bargaining-FB-négos

Against the backdrop of a nationwide strike vote for over 9,000 members in the FB group, our bargaining team rejected concessions put forward by representatives from Treasury Board and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) during Public Interest Commission (PIC) hearings April 22.

PSAC-CIU presented our arguments to reach a fair contract for FB members during PIC hearings April 10. FB members deserve fair wages that are aligned with other law enforcement agencies across the country, telework for non-uniformed personnel, better rights around discipline, technological change, hours of work, and equitable retirement.

Employer concessions would roll back gains for members

During the hearing, the employer argued that “compensation levels for the FB group are adequate” based on their ability to “attract and retain a substantial FB workforce.” However, this shows willful ignorance on their part because staffing shortages have created ripple effects throughout the agency as CBSA tries to fill the gaps by denying leave for workers and using untrained workers and machines to replace our members’ work.

The employer also stated that it is inappropriate to compare members of the FB bargaining unit – including Hearings, Programs, Trade, Inland Enforcement, Investigations, Intelligence and Border Services Officers – with other large law enforcement organizations such as municipal, provincial, and federal police forces. This argument doesn’t hold water considering CBSA is Canada’s second largest law enforcement agency.

Toxic workplace culture at CBSA

Treasury Board and CBSA representatives also argued that excessive discipline and management heavy-handedness is not a problem at CBSA. However, this flies in the face of what PSAC and CIU members see and hear in the workplace every day and what has been repeatedly reported in Public Service Employee Surveys. Senior management is completely out of touch with the work we do day in and day out and the toxic workplace culture at CBSA.

The employer also held on to proposed collective agreement changes that would gut our right to negotiate variable shift scheduling agreements, give managers the ability to change shift change notice from seven days to 48 hours, and add restrictions to leave without pay for the care of family.

We have worked to keep Canada’s borders secure, and we deserve to be treated with respect.

Next steps

In the coming weeks, the PIC board will provide a non-binding recommendation to reach an agreement based on the hearings.  While federal legislation provides for the PIC to issue its recommendation within 30 days of the hearing, the chair may extend that timeline.

Strike vote and mobilization continue

PSAC and CIU continue to hold a nationwide strike vote for the FB group April 10 to May 15, ramping up the pressure on CBSA in advance of the release of the PIC report. FB members will be in a legal strike position seven days after the release of the PIC report.

Be sure to keep your contact information up to date to receive all the latest updates. If you have any questions, please contact your Customs and Immigration Union branch president or visit the CIU and PSAC websites.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

CBSA fails to take responsibility, blames ongoing strike votes for CARM delays

Photo of CIU flag

In a memo sent to all Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) employees on April 19, 2024, the Agency announced that the implementation of part of the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) system would be delayed until Fall 2024.

This announcement is source of relief for CBSA officers and personnel across the country. Amongst CIU members, there is near universal consensus about the severe lack of adequate training on CARM just mere days before the system was set to be rolled out on May 13, with potentially disastrous impacts on several industry sectors as well as on the Agency’s ability to deliver services to Canadians. The Agency’s training infrastructure is woefully insufficient, and this has never been more evident than with the CARM project.

What’s more, the report tabled on April 18 by the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade also makes clear that CARM simply cannot be implemented without further study on its possible ramifications.

Simply put, as it stands, the CARM project is the cause of great uncertainty for many, as it appears to follow the same patterns established by previous CBSA projects — notably ArriveCAN — where a rushed system is deployed as a solution to a non-existent problem without proper consultation with key actors, including the Agency’s own employees and the union which represents them. Of note, there has yet to be any consultation with the union at the national level regarding CARM.

To see the implementation of CARM delayed, at least in part, is undoubtedly good news.

CBSA shifts the blame

What is troubling, however, is that once again CBSA continues to display the same lack of accountability we’ve come to expect from the Agency’s management. In its April 19 message to its employees, instead of citing the grave concerns that have come to light regarding the project and taking responsibility for its own lack of planning and foresight, the Agency shifts the blame on the ongoing strikes votes for the FB group.

“Given that a Public Service Alliance of Canada strike vote is underway, we know that key parts of our CARM team may be in a legal strike position in the days and weeks after CARM’s planned launch […]. As such, we are able to partially launch CARM given the circumstances” reads the memo.

Despite what CBSA says, a strike is still very far from being an inevitability. By blaming the strike votes for CARM delays, the Agency’s management reveals once more its profound lack of integrity.

Were CBSA and Treasury Board truly concerned about avoiding a potential strike, they would address our demands for a fair collective agreement by providing our FB members with wage parity, protection from contracting out, access to telework, and stronger job security. They would introduce equitable retirement after 25 years of service for CBSA personnel without delay.

This, unlike CARM, is easy to implement.

However, instead of doing what’s right, CBSA would rather mislead the Canadian public about the reasons behind CARM’s failure to launch.

The employer seems keen on pretending that a strike is inevitable. In light of this, CIU will be consulting with legal counsel at PSAC to determine whether the Agency’s statement constitute bad faith bargaining. We will be sure to inform the membership should we need to move forward with further action.