Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

PA Group – Public Interest Commission: PSAC continues pushing for fair deal

The Public Interest Commission (PIC) hearings for the Program and Administrative Services (PA) and common issues tables wrapped up this weekend. The hearings are the first of eight scheduled in the next few months for nearly 140,000 PSAC members who are still without a new collective agreement.

At the hearing, PSAC representatives put forward our demands for a fair contract that delivers reasonable wage increases and the working conditions that make balancing family and work possible.

Now that PSAC and the employer have provided their respective submissions, we can expect to see a report with the commission’s recommendations for a settlement early in the new year. But we won’t wait for this report to secure an agreement. Between now and then we’ll continue to negotiate and mobilize for the fair contract PSAC members deserve.

We’re going to continue pushing for a deal that provides fair wage increases that cover the rising cost of living, improvements to work-life balance, and equitable compensation for the Phoenix pay disaster.

Once the PIC report is issued, the PA group, which includes 71,000 members, will be in a position to take a strike vote if we still haven’t reached an agreement with Treasury Board on our outstanding issues.

We’ll continue to provide updates over the coming days and weeks, including a detailed analysis of the union and the employer’s submissions at the hearing.

The next PIC hearing – for the Education & Library Sciences (EB) group – takes place December 9-12 in Ottawa.

Read the submissions to the Public Interest Commission:

The original version of this article was first posted on the PSAC website.

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women: 30 Years Later – We Remember

December 6, 2019 marks the 30^th anniversary of the Montréal Massacre, where 14 young women were killed at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal because they were women.

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Accessibility must be a key priority for new government

This year, on December 3, International Day for Persons with Disabilities, PSAC is calling on the recently elected federal government to make accessibility a priority.

Federal accessibility law

Just before the election, the government passed the Accessible Canada Act into law. This was an important step forward for accessibility rights in the federal sector. However, the most significant part lies ahead. The Act simply sets out the general framework – the government must create strong regulations to make the Act effective.

PSAC calls on this government to ensure comprehensive and enforceable accessibility regulations and standards that make a positive difference in the lives of persons with disabilities in Canada.

Federal accessibility strategy

The government has also recently prepared a federal Accessibility Strategy that will apply to the federal public service.

Once again, this strategy is simply a foundation and the true commitment to accessibility will only be shown by ensuring that the strategy is implemented properly. There must be a culture change in the federal public service, where one in three workers with disabilities have said they experienced harassment, and one in four have said they experienced discrimination.

We are calling on the government and the central agencies to make accessibility a priority and to demonstrate real commitment to removing barriers.

PSAC releases new tools on the duty to accommodate

Also, in recognition of December 3, PSAC is releasing a new pamphlet for our members entitled Duty to Accommodate in the Workplace, as well as our revised and updated Duty to Accommodate: A PSAC Guide for Union Representatives. PSAC is also promoting a video that explains the duty to accommodate. These tools will help PSAC members, stewards, and other representatives to better understand the right to accommodation in the workplace.

PSAC will continue to advocate for a Canada where persons with disabilities are able to fully and equitably participate in all aspects of society.

The original version of this article was first posted on the PSAC website.

CBSA must address abuse of authority and harassment by management

The unions representing Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) employees are demanding immediate action to address abuse of authority and harassment by management at the agency.

In a video released today, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Customs and Immigration Union (PSAC-CIU) outline several cases which have gone unaddressed by CBSA.

“Management is creating a toxic workplace culture through fear, intimidation and harassment,” said Jean-Pierre Fortin, National President of the Customs and Immigration Union. “The government must launch an independent, third party investigation to look into these serious abuses of power by managers.”

Incidents reported by PSAC-CIU members include:

A male supervisor physically assaulting a female officer in front of several witnesses without repercussions;
A manager forcing officers to conduct an illegal strip search of a bus full of students;
A manager punching a Border Services Officer in the face unprovoked.

A couple of months ago, CBSA unveiled a video threatening surveillance of members at work and harsh disciplinary measures for a range of offences. The video, warning members that “discipline in the workplace happens” and “the consequences may surprise you,” reinforces the need for better protections against harassment and abuse of authority in the next collective agreement.

In the latest round of bargaining, PSAC-CIU are also proposing new whistleblower protections for members who report CBSA wrongdoing.

“The constant threat of discipline has a devastating impact on the mental health and well-being of our members,” said Fortin. “Our members are safeguarding Canada’s borders; they should feel like CBSA stands behind them.”

It’s not surprising that a significant number of CBSA employees (40%) report their workplace as being psychologically unhealthy in the 2018 Public Service Employee Survey.

In addition, nearly a quarter of employees (22%) have also reported being victims of harassment on the job in the past year, significantly higher than the rest of the federal public service (15%).

CBSA must put an end to its two-tiered system of discipline and reprimand managers who abuse their authority and harass employees. Better, fairer protections are needed for all PSAC-CIU members.

PSAC-CIU and Treasury Board/Canada Border Services Agency return to the bargaining table on January 21-23, 2020.

The original version of this article was first posted on the PSAC website.

NJC Group Grievance – Wearing of Name Tags

As we’ve pointed out before, CBSA’s name tag policy continues to foster a dangerous work environment for our members, having already brought much harm since it was put in place 7 years ago.

In our continued efforts to bring an end to this ill-conceived policy, CIU is moving forward with a National Joint Council Group Grievance, arguing that the employer’s decision to mandate the wearing of name tags is in contravention of Part XIV of the NJC’s Uniforms Directive.

As part of the Group Grievance, all CIU Branches will be collecting signatures from members who are affected by the policy, using the FPSLREB’s Form 19 – Consent of aggrieved employees to the presentation of a group grievance. This is what the form looks like:

It is crucial that all who wear a name tag sign this Group Grievance, so talk to your Branch President or your local Steward to participate, or for any questions you may have.