Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

A message from the CIU National President regarding scabbing activities during the TB strike

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To all CIU members of the PA, EB, TC and SV groups:

The exemplary solidarity and activism displayed on picket lines across the country during the Treasury Board strike earlier this spring led to a strong tentative agreement, of which you can be proud. Make no mistake: Without this strike, without the combined efforts of our membership coming together to demand better from the employer, you would not have secured as good a deal as the one you currently have the opportunity to vote on.

Sadly, during the strike, a handful of CIU members chose to cross the picket line, continuing to report to work for an employer who, throughout the bargaining process, showed how little they cared about the just value of their employees’ labour. These members now enjoy the benefits others won for them, acting in a way that is an affront to the members who sacrificed much to get a fair collective agreement.

As per Section 25, Sub-Section (6)(n) of the PSAC Constitution and Regulation 19, Paragraph 16 of the PSAC Regulations, CIU has established a Committee to investigate allegations of members in non-essential positions who continued to work during the strike. Should you have witnessed or be aware of any CIU PA, EB, TC, or SV member who performed work during the strike (April 19-28, inclusively) while occupying a non-essential position, you may file an allegation to that effect by emailing us at complaints@ciu-sdi.ca using your personal email address (and not your CBSA email address). Please include the relevant name(s), work location(s), witness(es) and date(s) along with a basic description of the incident(s), as well as your own contact information.

All allegations will be looked at by the CIU Investigation Committee. As per the PSAC Constitution, Section 25, Sub-Section (4), members found to have engaged in scabbing activities may be disciplined, which could include a suspension of membership and a “fine that equals the amount of daily remuneration earned by the members, multiplied by the number of days that the member crossed the picket line, performed work for the employer, or voluntarily performed struck work”.

To all those who stood in solidarity while on strike — thank you. United there is little we cannot achieve, and your stalwartness is the very foundation of what makes our union great. To the few who chose to scab — I urge you to take a moment to reflect on how you’ve chosen to treat those you work with every day. They certainly deserve better.

In solidarity,

Mark Weber
National President

July 5, 2023, update

CIU will only accept allegations of scabbing activities until July 30, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. See the following post for more information.

FB bargaining: Pushing back against CBSA plan for self-checkout at border

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Our FB bargaining team met with the employer May 24-25 for the first bargaining session since the government introduced the 2023 federal budget and Bill C-47, the Budget Implementation Act. It was our first opportunity to oppose the changes outlined in Bill C-47 since we postponed negotiations in April in solidarity with striking Treasury Board and Canada Revenue Agency workers, and last met with the employer March 21-23.

The government is proposing changes in Bill C-47 that put our communities at risk by allowing individuals to enter Canada without speaking to a border services officer. This is reinforced by CBSA’s Traveller Modernization initiative. Our FB bargaining team voiced opposition to proposed changes that would implement self-checkouts at the border.

Self-checkout kiosks at Canada’s borders will make it easier for people intending to commit crimes — including dangerous offenders and individuals who would not be allowed to enter Canada for criminality (including war crimes), as well as individuals engaged in espionage or smuggling people, guns, and drugs — to enter the country, as we know they will not self-identify if given the chance to process their own entry.

PSAC-CIU taking employer before Labour Board

PSAC-CIU will take the employer before the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board for technological changes that have already been introduced by CBSA, including ArriveCAN and eGates.

During negotiations this week, our bargaining team called on Treasury Board and CBSA to halt the rollout of these changes — as well as the border services officer information sessions that management is carrying out related to “border modernization” — until the employer has properly consulted with PSAC-CIU. If they refuse to do so, we will consult our legal counsel about taking legal action against the employer. We will not sit idly by while the government eliminates officers from the front line and puts our communities at risk.

The team also spoke to our proposals concerning anti-racism training and asked CBSA to explain their decision to unilaterally halt the training PSAC-CIU and CBSA had agreed to with no explanation in March.

Next steps

We return to the bargaining table next month and will continue to push the government and CBSA to act responsibly, work with our union, and do the right thing.

Keep your contact information up to date to receive all the latest updates about bargaining. If you have any questions, please contact your branch president or your PSAC regional office.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

Building a better workplace and a stronger union: CIU anti-discrimination and anti-racism survey

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At the last CIU National Convention in 2021, delegates passed three resolutions seeking to address discrimination and racism within both the union and the workplace. A component of these resolutions pertained to gathering the data necessary to work towards that goal, asking the union to engage the services of an external, independent, and labour-friendly third-party with the required expertise to help conduct such a study. Thanks to the work of the CIU Human Rights Committee, and after a comprehensive search, the union has hired Rachel Décoste and Associates to assist us in this important endeavour.

As part of our efforts to fulfill the mandates of these resolutions, a confidential and anonymous survey has been designed by Rachel Décoste and Associates to gather information from the CIU membership about their workplace and union experiences. In the next few days, CIU members can expect to receive an email sent to their personal email address from ciu-survey@WorkplaceBelonging.ca through Survey Monkey, inviting them to take this short survey (3 to 5 minutes). We strongly encourage all members to participate. Note that only the aggregate data and results will be shared with the CIU Human Rights Committee. All other information gathered will be strictly confidential and will not be made available to either CIU or CBSA.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the survey, we invite you to contact ciu-survey@WorkplaceBelonging.ca.

Thank you in advance to all members who participate in this survey for helping us build a better workplace, and a stronger, barrier-free union.

CIU strike pay top-up update

We have now processed the CIU national strike pay top-up for PA, EB, TC and SV members who attended picket lines between April 19 and April 21, 2023.

Members who attended a picket line between April 19 and April 21, and who signed up for electronic payments with PSAC, will receive an e-transfer in the next 24 hours covering picket line attendance in the first week. An email has been sent to these members with information on how to deposit the e-transfer once they receive it. Members who have not registered to receive e-transfers will be issued a cheque, although these are still being processed.

As a reminder, the CIU national strike pay top-up of $50/day is paid to striking members who attended a picket line for at least four hours per day. Please note that payments are issued based on data communicated to CIU by PSAC.

Further note that we are still processing the strike pay top-up for the second week of the strike. Members who attended picket lines during the second week and who have registered for e-transfers will receive a notification once payment is processed for those days. We thank you for your patience as we continue to work to process payments as quickly as possible.

All inquiries regarding the CIU strike pay top-up should be sent to strike@ciu-sdi.ca. In a few isolated cases, we have incomplete contact information for some members, which makes it difficult to issue payment via cheque or e-transfer. Members who have attended a picket line but who do not receive a payment notification from CIU should contact us at strike@ciu-sdi.ca so that we may investigate, bearing in mind that payments for the second week have yet to be issued.

Some Branches are also issuing local top-ups. Please contact your Branch President for more information about Branch strike pay top-ups.