Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

Reminder: Cast your ballot in PA, EB, TC & SV ratification votes before September 29

image vote ratification

We are getting close to the end of the voting period to ratify the new tentative agreements for the PATCEBSV and PSAC-UTE groups. PSAC has organized ratification votes between August 24 and September 29 for PA, TC, EB and PSAC-UTE members, and from August 31 to October 5 for SV members in each PSAC region.

In order to be eligible to vote you must:

  • have received your personal identification number by e-mail or mail (your PIN is required to vote, but is not required to register and attend a webinar)
  • ensure you are a member in good standing (MIGS)
  • attend a 15-minute webinar session

If you still haven’t received your PIN, please check your junk e-mail folder and if it is not found there contact your PSAC Regional Office. If you need more information on how to participate in ratification votes, please visit our national website.

If you have not registered and attended a webinar, please do so by checking out the regional websites for dates. If you have attended a webinar and have not yet voted, please vote to have your voice heard.

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

SV bargaining: Talks resume today

CIU flag with the word bargaining

Following the successful conclusion of bargaining for the PA group, the SV (Operational Services) bargaining team will be returning to the table with Treasury Board representatives on July 22.

The union is committed to making progress on the following:

  • Wage adjustments
  • Improved allowances
  • Hours of work (move from 40 to 37.5 hours per week – with no loss in total annual pay).
  • Protections against contracting out

We will not accept any concessions.

Stay tuned for updates 

PSAC will provide updates on talks as appropriate. Please ensure that you have either updated your contact information on PSAC’s member portal, or that you create an account if you have not done so already.

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

FB bargaining dates set; all PSAC members at CBSA to receive Phoenix damages

All PSAC members working at Canada Border Services Agency will receive Phoenix damages compensation while bargaining continues for FB members.

Last year, PSAC rejected the government’s meagre Phoenix settlement offer of five days of cashable leave because it wasn’t equitable and was far too little to compensate for the damage caused by the disastrous pay system.

Instead, PSAC negotiated a far better Phoenix damages agreement that provides a $2,500 lump sum payment to be distributed to all PSAC members who have been directly or indirectly impacted by the Phoenix pay system. This new agreement is a substantial improvement from the five days of leave accepted by CSN/UCCO-SACC, PIPSC and all other federal bargaining agents.

The agreement – which all PSAC members at CBSA will receive independent of the bargaining process – will help make PSAC members whole for over four years of hardships caused by the Phoenix pay system.

The agreement has three main elements:   

  • General damages compensation for all (i.e.: the $2,500 lump sum);
  • An improvement to the current claims process for out-of-pocket expenses and financial losses;
  • Compensation for severe impacts and other demonstrable cases.

Due to the work required to implement new collective agreements and retroactive pay for over 120,000 PSAC members, we anticipate a delay, but the employer has committed to balancing these priorities in order to process Phoenix damages as soon as possible.

For greater details please read our summary of the deal and review our FAQ.

Dates set for FB negotiations

Our bargaining team is scheduled to return to negotiations from September 23 to 25. We remain at odds with CBSA/Treasury Board over several issues – from shift scheduling and firearm practice time to leave with income averaging and protections against excessive discipline on the part of CBSA management.  Due to the timeline of the previous round of bargaining, we are currently at an earlier stage in the process compared to other federal tables that recently reached tentative agreements. 

As always, we are committed to achieving a fair contract that makes CBSA a better place to work.

To review the package of proposals that we tabled as well as those of the employer, visitpsacunion.ca/fb-group and ciu-sdi.ca/issue/fb-group-bargaining. We’ll continue to provide updates throughout the bargaining process.

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