“Twenty-five and out” plan raised at bargaining table and in Pension Advisory Committee.
Employees in the FB bargaining unit are law enforcement personnel. We are subject to the same rigorous employment standards as other law enforcement workers in Canada and we enforce dozens of laws and international trade agreements. Yet we do not have access to a retirement regime that reflects the work that we do.
Pension commitment
While pension modification is not subject to collective bargaining under the law, we reiterated our demand in bargaining this week to get a written commitment from CBSA and Treasury Board that they will support an early retirement regime consistent with what is in place for other federal law enforcement personnel.
PSAC National President Robyn Benson has placed the need for pension reform for PSAC-represented CBSA employees and National Defence firefighters on the agenda for the Public Service Pension Advisory Committee. CIU National President Jean-Pierre Fortin has also raised the issue directly with Minister Blaney. We will continue to push this initiative at all levels.
Other improvements
This week, we tabled our proposal to enhance legal indemnification rights for FB workers, ensuring that union members would be legally protected in the event that members of the public take legal action against an employee for performing their duties. Given our recent experiences, we told CBSA that we do not trust CBSA management and better protections are required.
We also discussed:
- our proposal for new protections for officers getting “H”ed on designated paid holidays
- our proposal to improve access to telework for non-uniformed officers
- CBSA’s roll out of a new system for uniform allotment
- issues related to inland enforcement
Progress made on Mental Health front
The PSAC successfully reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) this session with Treasury Board concerning a joint task force do address mental health in the workplace. For more information on the MOU, visit: http://psacunion.ca/psac-achieves-agreement-treasury-board-mental.
We are meeting again in May. For more information and to see our proposals and those of the employer, visit psacunion.ca/fb
