Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

Meeting Between CBSA and CIU Presidents

Logo CIU-SDI

On August 16, CIU National President Jean-Pierre Fortin met with CBSA President Linda Lizotte-MacPherson and Vice-President, HR, Jean-Stéphen Piché. It was a productive meeting and many subjects were broached.

Regarding Collective Bargaining, Brother Fortin emphasized the importance of FB members’ CA being in line with those of other law enforcement officers. Not only do we need to catch up, we need to ensure steps are taken so that we remain at parity once we get there. The National President also spoke of our demands (25 and out; meal periods; salary and other working conditions) and reminded CBSA that when a fair collective agreement is reached, it can demonstrate to members the employer’s genuine  appreciation of their work.

Brother Fortin also raised the safety concerns our members have with the implementation of new technologies. For instance, those that relate to Primary Inspection Kiosks, Telephone Reporting Centres and Remote Traveller Processing. Ms. Lizotte-MacPherson and Mr. Piché were attentive to CIU’s concerns.

On another note, CIU and CBSA agreed that overall, the Duty to Accommodate project has been successful. CBSA looks forward to a similarly positive outcome with the Mobility Working Group. Mental Health was also discussed. Ms. Lizotte-MacPherson highlighted the importance of promoting the well-being of members and of developing the competencies of managers to deal with difficult situations.

Brother Fortin will provide more details to NBoD members at the next National Board meeting in September.

Phoenix Issue: Minister Foote finally agrees to meet with PSAC

Fix Phoenix Pay System Logo

Yesterday, the PSAC sent National President Jean-Pierre Fortin the following link regarding the Phoenix system:  Minister Foote finally agrees to meet PSAC after repeated requests

By now, we are all familiar with the problems related to the Phoenix pay system and know that some CIU members have been affected. On behalf of all CIU members, Brother Jean-Pierre Fortin wishes to recognize the extraordinary efforts of our PA group colleagues in the Pay and Benefits Section who have been dealing with this difficult situation since mid-April.

Even if the new pay system will not allow them to fix problems immediately, they are doing everything they can to process emergency salary advances and ensure their sisters and brothers are paid.

True solidarity!

Remote Processing of Travellers: National VP and 1st VP meet with Hamilton members

Jean-Pierre Fortin and Mark Weber with members from Hamilton Branch

On August 8, 2016, CIU Hamilton Branch members met with National President Jean-Pierre Fortin and 1st National Vice-President Mark Weber, who were seeking to familiarize themselves with the Agency’s Telephone Reporting Centre System, used for the remote processing of travellers.

In January 18, 2016, CBSA launched a pilot project which allows Hamilton based officers to process travellers crossing at Morses Line, Quebec, some 700 km away.

Brothers Fortin and Weber were pleased to receive the feedback and comments of CIU members who process travellers using the telephone reporting system, and who could provide them with first-hand information about the ins and outs of remote processing.

Phoenix system privacy breach unacceptable, must be addressed immediately by the government

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Officials at Public Services Procurement Canada were aware that the Phoenix pay system might cause privacy breaches as early as January 2016, according to media reports released yesterday.

Minister Foote acknowledged last night that the private information of thousands of public service workers has been shared with close to 70,000 staff.

“This is serious and unacceptable. The private information of our members and all public service workers should not be in the hands of anyone who does not need it,” said PSAC National President, Robyn Benson.

“The government must let public service employees know immediately about what personal information has been shared and how they can take steps to protect their identities.”

“I am writing to the Privacy Commissioner immediately, as well as the Prime Minister and Minister Foote, to express our alarm.”

Government already aware of privacy concerns

The government was aware as early as January 2016 that there were grave privacy concerns with the Phoenix pay system. Despite this, the government consistently told employees that their privacy was fully protected.

PSAC shared privacy concerns

When we shared our concerns about privacy protection last May 2016, PSPC assured us that a Privacy Impact Assessment was completed and all privacy concerns had been addressed.  It now appears that some aspect of this process was deeply flawed.

PSAC calling on the government for immediate action

Information has be shared with all public service employees about what personal information has been shared and how they can take steps to protect their identity.

* A hotline must be created to address individual members concerns about privacy issues, staffed with knowledgeable agents.

* The government must commit to approving compensation for any employee who has incurred costs because of privacy violations.

“PSPC has consistently refused to listen to the PSAC and other unions with regards to problems with the Phoenix pay system, even though our concerns have been proven valid time and time again. 80,000 employees are experiencing issues with their pay. That is a staggering number,” concluded Benson.

This article was originally published on the PSAC website

PA Bargaining: “Optimism Quickly Fades”

PA Bargaining

Following the announcement that the Liberal government is repealing sections of the anti-union Bill C-4, enacted by the Harper Conservatives, our PA Bargaining Team returned to the negotiation table, hopeful that the Treasury Board had a new mandate to engage in serious collective bargaining. Any optimism we had was dashed almost immediately by the employer’s opening statement that they were willing to make some minor movements only on the condition that the union remove a significant number of our demands from the table.

Child care: Our bargaining team invited Morna Ballantyne, PSAC’s Special Projects Officer responsible for the union’s childcare campaign, to outline the need for affordable childcare. Her presentation was informative and persuasive. We are looking to develop a joint national committee with the employer to assess child care needs of federal public sector workers and make recommendations on how to best meet those needs.

Wages and other demands: We presented our complete economic package, as well as language on whistleblowing, rest breaks during overtime, and language on acting pay, workplace violence and electronic surveillance. We also reviewed all of our outstanding issues with the employer.

We signed off on minor changes to the Personal Leave and Volunteer Leave articles, allowing employees to take the leave in half days.

We’ll be back at the bargaining table in September. If you see your Member of Parliament in the summer, please tell him or her to keep their hands off our sick leave. And if that MP is a Liberal, please remind him or her that the Liberals were elected on a promise of showing respect to the public service. It’s time to change their bargaining mandate from the one they inherited from Stephen Harper.

Sick Leave: Our position on the employer’s short-term disability plan remains unchanged, but we continue to seek either a renewal or improvements to the current sick leave regime.

In a meeting this week, the Coordinated Issues Committee, which includes representatives from all five PSAC bargaining teams for the core public administration, said that any short-term disability plan must reside in the collective agreement.

Stay informed and get involved: Our bargaining team will keep you informed throughout this process. In the coming weeks, we will advise you of the next round of bargaining dates. Watch this page for updates and be sure to talk to your colleagues about the importance of supporting our union throughout this process.

Get involved and spread the word, so we can keep the pressure on the employer and fight back against concessions. See the PSAC website for information regarding bargaining proposals.