Public Service Labour Relations Board has set dates for November and December.
As per the Public Service Labour Relations Act, our FB Bargaining Team filed for conciliation earlier this year when it became clear that the employer was not prepared to seriously address our issues, including those concerning parity with other federal enforcement workers. In June we returned to the table for three days and made no progress whatsoever in talks with Treasury Board/CBSA.
Since that time the parties have submitted our respective lists of matters outstanding, named our representatives for the Public Interest Commission (PIC) and have awaited dates for the PIC hearing to be set by the Labour Board. Also since that time the Union has filed a charge with the Labour Board against CBSA for CBSA’s violating federal labour law in making unilateral changes to certain terms and conditions of employment that are negotiable, and hence protected until the parties reach either an agreement, or should the union arrive at a legal strike position.
On Monday the Labour Board contacted us with confirmed dates for both a mediation session to be convened by the PIC and a hearing date should the parties not reach agreement in mediation. The mediation session is scheduled to take place the weekend of November 24th and 25th, with a hearing to be held at the Public Service Labour Relations Board December 10th. Under federal legislation the PIC has 30 days post the hearing to submit its recommendation. This deadline can be extended if deemed necessary by the Chair of the Labour Board. The PIC’s recommendation is non-binding. We will now begin preparing our arguments to be presented before the PIC panel should mediation not lead to settlement.
We are frustrated by the amount of time the process is taking, and we are even more frustrated by the intransigence that is being shown by CBSA and the government. As we have said from the beginning of this process, we are determined to achieve a fair contract for PSAC/CIU members at CBSA.
