The latest round of negotiations for PSAC-CIU members employed by CBSA kicked off when the FB bargaining team met with Treasury Board to exchange proposals on June 16 and 17. This followed the FB National Bargaining Conference, held in Ottawa from March 31 to April 2.
The team raised key issues this round including:
- A commitment from Treasury Board to provide an early retirement regime comparable to other law enforcement agencies. This complements the work PSAC is doing with the Public Service Pension Advisory Committee.
- New rights with respect to discipline and protections against forced overtime to address CBSA’s heavy handed management style.
- Mechanisms that allow members to transfer to different ports and offices.
- Rolling the paid meal allowance into salary and applying it to all FB members.
- Job protections in the context of new technologies, contract workers, and student use.
- Entrenching access to telework in the collective agreement.
- New allowances for escort removal, dog handler, plain clothes, dry cleaning, and field coaching, as well as paid time for firearm practice.
The employer also tabled their proposals, which included reducing shift change notice from seven days to 48 hours, no weekend premium on overtime, and new restraints on access to care and nurturing leave. Management indicated they are interested in more “flexibility” for hours of work and identified “enhancing management authority” as a priority for this round of negotiations, which raises red flags for our team.
The FB bargaining team’s objective is to strengthen protections in the context of VSSAs, shift work, and hours of work for all FB members at CBSA and enhance protections against managerial authority. The team made it clear to the employer that they are looking for improvements that would make CBSA a better place to work, not concessions.
Wage proposals will be submitted at a future session once the employer provides payroll data. The team will be returning to the table in September.
Please be sure to 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.
