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.
