Every year, National Public Service Week is an opportunity for the federal government to recognize the contributions of federal public service workers. More often than not, however, that recognition rings rather… hollow. Maybe it’s CBSA’s abysmal record towards our members. Maybe it’s the overall state of the relationship between the federal public service and its employees — excessive review of accommodation agreements, unnecessary four-day return-to-office mandate, damaging workforce adjustments, etc. Maybe it’s the bonuses executives continue to receive as lower echelons are nickeled-and-dimed.
And maybe it’s how little effort the federal public service, as a whole, seems to put into the one week whose purpose should be to demonstrate some level of appreciation. Let’s be clear: Even at its best, NPSW isn’t going to make up for how poorly CBSA performs as an employer. But events like NPSW can only hope to be meaningful if there is some sort of genuine attempt at appreciation behind them. Otherwise, why bother? Two thawed freezies or a cake that managers clearly got to before offering it to employees (true stories) do not exactly scream ‘thoughtful effort’.
So, this year, for NPSW, we thought we would have some fun, and ask you directly: What is the worst NPSW appreciation gift you’ve ever received from CBSA? Maybe it’s cold coffee. Maybe it’s stale pizza. Maybe it’s nothing. And if you feel differently and like some of the appreciation you’ve received, that’s ok, we also want to know. We hear that some local managers genuinely do try to make do with the paltry resources the employer allocates for NPSW.
See our contest page for more
information on how to participate!
From now until June 20, for the duration of the 2026 NPSW (June 14-20 2026), share your answer using the form on our contest page and you could win one of eight $100 gift cards to be used on our union web boutique.
