Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

FB bargaining: Public Interest Commission dates set, mobilization escalates

The FB group will be heading to Public Interest Commission (PIC) hearings with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board April 10 and 22, 2024.

The PIC is a panel of three people — a chairperson appointed by the Labour Board and nominees appointed by the union and the employer. Each side presents briefs to explain their positions on the outstanding issues at a hearing and the PIC issues a report with non-binding recommendations for reaching a settlement.

After impasse is declared a PIC hearing is a legislatively imposed component of the negotiations process.

Our union believes that the PIC process is not an effective means of assisting unions and employers in reaching a collective agreement and causes needless delays. The Board has the authority to permit the bypassing of this step.

PSAC made a request to the Board to skip this step so that negotiations could move forward, but the request was denied. We will continue to press for changes to the legislative process and have lobbying activities organized for the new year on the issue.

Here’s why the PIC process hurts workers

Mobilization escalates

The bargaining team will be meeting over the coming weeks to discuss mobilization and lobbying efforts in support of pension reform and a fair contract. PSAC and CIU will also continue to escalate our pressure on CBSA by launching strike and essential services training for members in the FB group. Watch for more information as we move forward.

We are determined to reach a fair contract that protects our hard-fought gains and provides retirement benefits and wage parity with the broader law enforcement community, stronger job protection, access to telework, and new rights around variable shift scheduling agreements (VSSAs) and shift scheduling.

Get involved and support bargaining

Everything we do in the workplace to show CBSA we are paying attention to the issues and support our bargaining team – no matter how big or small – makes a difference as we push for a fair contract.

Members of the FB bargaining team are joining CIU branch executive members to visit worksites and hold membership meetings across the country.

This is your opportunity to meet the bargaining team, hear the latest bargaining update, and get materials that will let the employer know you want a good collective agreement, not concessions.

If you have any questions, please contact your CIU branch president, or visit the CIU and PSAC websites.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

CIU National Executive tours Laval Immigration Holding Centre

On Tuesday, November 21, the CIU National Executive was in Laval, Quebec, to tour the local CBSA Immigration Holding Centre (IHC), following an invitation by the Agency to review ongoing upgrades to these facilities to accommodate higher-risk immigration detainees who will no longer be held in provincial establishments.

While it is too early to fully assess the impact of the upgrade process as a whole due to infrastructure changes still to come, CIU Executive members welcomed this opportunity to familiarize themselves with proposed changes in order to ensure potential safety concerns — both for workers and detainees — are addressed as proactively as possible.

The detention of high-risk individuals in immigration holding facilities is a new direction for the Agency, and CIU is conscious of the impact this can have on our members working in IHCs and as part of Inland Enforcement and Hearings. Our priority is to ensure the health and safety of all involved. While alternatives to detention are central to a modern, more humane immigration system, adequate holding facilities must be available in cases where alternatives to detention are simply not an option due to severe public safety risks, such as violent criminality. It is all the more important for these facilities to prioritize the health and safety of all through proper training, staffing levels, and equipment.

As these changes represent a significant shift for some of our members, we invite our members to review the following information regarding dangerous work should they be asked to perform dangerous tasks for which they’ve not received training.

While any concern regarding these changes should be brought forward to your Branch President and local health and safety representatives, the Agency has made clear that they want to hear from the membership to address questions around changes related to detentions, and we invite you to reach out to Detention-Programs@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca.

Safety for Trans and Non-binary People

On November 20, we recognize Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to honour the many trans and non-binary lives lost to hate. It is also an opportunity to educate ourselves about the continued issues that trans people face every day and what we can do to help.

Now more than ever, trans and non-binary people need support. They are more likely to attempt suicide, to self-harm and to experience homelessness compared to their cisgender counterparts. And now, with the rise of anti-trans sentiment in Canada and the introduction of anti-trans legislation, the threat of violence is even greater.

Just this year, the governments of Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have put in place laws that target and endanger trans and non-binary children. For students who do not feel safe to come out at home, these laws force them to stay in the closet and deny who they truly are for fear of being outed involuntarily. And for those who do get outed, they face the very real possibility of violence or homelessness.

This cannot continue. Trans and non-binary people deserve to be safe and treated with respect.

Get Involved

How can allies help? Using inclusive language is one basic way to respect Two-Spirt, trans and non-binary people.

We can also take time to educate ourselves on trans issues, volunteer our time with local organizations or support them whichever way we can. If you don’t know where to start, here is a good jumping-off point:

Trans Pulse Canada (bilingual). This organization studies issues related to trans and non-binary people in Canada.

Aide aux trans du Québec (bilingual). This Québec based organization offers support and resources for trans and non-binary people.

Trans Sask (English). This resource network based in Saskatchewan is on the frontlines making schools in the province a safer place.

NB Transgender Health Network (English). This organization offers resources and helps trans and non-binary folks navigate the healthcare system.

We also encourage you to attend a vigil or find an event happening in your community to recognize the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

PSAC Anti-Racism Action Plan: National townhalls

National telephone townhalls for PSAC’s Anti-Racism Action Plan have been launched for Indigenous and racialized members. These national townhalls are the last part of the Anti-Racism Action Plan consultation process that began in 2021.
Members who have self-identified as Indigenous and/or racialized have been invited to share their lived experiences, expertise, and the psychological and physical impacts of racism, so the barriers that continue to prevent members from fully participating in our union can be identified and break down.

How to participate

Members who identify as Indigenous and/or racialized have received email invitations to register for townhalls, and reminders will follow. If you have not received an invitation and would like to attend a townhall, please complete this self-identification survey, and you will automatically receive an email to register for a townhall.

See the PSAC website for more information on how to participate.

PSAC working to implement remote work agreement, joint panels for federal public service workers

As part of the last round of negotiations for 155,000 federal public service workers, PSAC secured stronger remote work language that protects workers from arbitrary decisions from the employer.

The letter of agreement we negotiated alongside the collective agreements will ensure members have their remote work requests assessed individually and have access to review remote work arrangements and prevent “one-size-fits-all” mandates in the federal public service.

Since the collective agreements were signed, PSAC has been working with Treasury Board, Canada Revenue Agency, and federal departments to implement the letter of agreement and modernize the government’s outdated telework directive.

While we know this process will take time to fully implement, there are early indications that Treasury Board is pushing back on the letter of agreement, although it remains to be seen what their final position will be.

If the government fails to meaningfully collaborate on implementing the improvements in the letter of agreement within a reasonable timeframe, PSAC is prepared to take legal action to expedite the process and ensure members’ rights are protected.

Joint union-management panels on remote work

PSAC has been working with components and federal government departments to create joint panels that will review employee remote work grievances. The panels will provide recourse for members who are dissatisfied with a remote work decision.

Treasury Board developed draft guidance for departments to use when developing the panels and their terms of reference. PSAC’s key feedback on the draft guidance was to ensure that the scope of the panels focuses on the Directive on Telework, requests for telework are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and the employee is the one to refer their denied grievance to the departmental joint panel.

Modernizing the directive on telework

We are in discussions with Treasury Board to review and modernize the outdated Directive on Telework. The last version was developed in 2019/20, prior to the pandemic, and doesn’t reflect the evolution of remote work over the last three years. Our aim is to ensure the policy aligns with the needs of our members.

PSAC has established a reference committee of representatives from the components to coordinate the work underway to both set up the joint panels and guide the consultation of the Joint Consultation Committee (JCC) on telework.

We expect to see a serious commitment to meaningful consultation on our joint recommendations for modernizing the directive when we meet with Treasury Board this month.

Challenging remote work arrangements

Once fully implemented, the letter of agreement will grant more protection for workers around remote work agreements. The process to challenge decisions will be fully in place once the joint panels are established and the dispute process is finalized.

We will continue to keep members up to date as these panels are developed and the grievance process is established.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.