After more than two years without a contract and a tremendous display of solidarity from FB members across the country, PSAC and the Customs and Immigration Union have reached a tentative agreement for more than 9,000 Canada Border Services Agency workers.

The agreement provides wage increases that greatly exceed those provided across the broader law enforcement community in Canada, stronger workplace protections, and improvements for both uniformed and non-uniformed members at CBSA. A full copy of the new language is available in the ratification kit.

update: the new rates of pay are now available.

The FB bargaining team unanimously recommends ratification of the tentative agreement.

Highlights of the tentative agreement
Duration

The four-year agreement will expire on June 20, 2026.

Wages increases that exceed other major Canadian law enforcement agencies

PSAC negotiated wage increases totaling 14.8% over four years – representing a compounded increase of 15.73% – retroactive to June 2022. These wage increases greatly exceed increases provided across the broader law enforcement community in Canada – including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – for the years of the agreement.

Effective June 21, 2022 – 3.5% + 1.25% for a total compounded increase of 4.8%
Effective June 21, 2023 – 3% + 2.8% for a total compounded increase of 5.9%
Effective June 21, 2024 – 2% + 0.25% for a total compounded increase of 2.255%
Effective June 21, 2025 – 2%
One-time lump-sum payment

PSAC secured a pensionable $2,500 one-time lump sum payment for all employees in the bargaining unit upon the date of signing. The pensionable lump sum payment will be applicable to all members of the bargaining unit employed at the time of signing the agreement. For members approaching retirement, the pensionable lump sum payment will contribute to their average salary for their best five years of service and increase their overall pension payments in retirement.

Other monetary gains
A 12.5% increase in shift and weekend premium – from $2.00 to $2.25 an hour. Our shift and weekend premiums are now the highest in the federal law enforcement community, and greatly exceed other major law enforcement organizations such as the OPP and  Sûreté du Québec.
Members in Intelligence, Investigations and Inland Enforcement will be reimbursed up to $500 a year for the purchase of plain clothes.
A new annual Hearings Officer allowance of $500.
A new pensionable, annual $1000 allowance for non-uniform employees.
The employer must now reimburse employees for the cost of medical certificates up to $35.
Leave improvements
Employees will now be able to access four weeks of vacation leave after seven years of employment instead of eight years of employment.
Improvements regarding travelling time, including a reduction from 40 nights to 20 nights to access an additional day of leave.
Expanded access to Family-Related Responsibility and Bereavement Leave.
Protections around technological changes

The new agreement provides clear mechanisms for meaningful discussion with the union on any proposed technological changes in the workplace and includes new protections in the context of the introduction of new systems and software.

Discipline

For the first time, we have secured new language in the agreement that ensures employees have access to union representation in all disciplinary, administrative and investigative meetings conducted by CBSA management – including Professional Standards Investigations. The agreement also contains new language that ensures an appropriate effort will be made to conduct investigations within a reasonable amount of time. Lengthy, drawn-out investigations have been a longstanding issue for FB members at CBSA.

Hours of work and Variable Shift Scheduling Agreements

We successfully pushed back against employer concessions around hours of work and Variable Shift Scheduling Agreements (VSSAs). The union has retained the ability to negotiate VSSAs at the local level and protected union members’ right to vote on local VSSAs.

The new agreement contains language that establishes a new committee mandated to discuss line bidding by seniority that builds on the existing language in the collective agreement. We also defended members’ rights to access Leave Without Pay for Care of Family without reference to operational requirements.

Implementation

If the collective agreement implementation period goes beyond 180 days and when the outstanding amount owed is greater than $500, the employer will pay a $200 lump sum per member.

Telework

The FB bargaining team secured an agreement in line with Treasury Board collective agreements in a letter of agreement that requires managers to assess remote work requests individually, not by group, and provide written responses that will allow members and PSAC to hold the employer accountable to equitable and fair decision-making on remote work.

That means employee rights around remote work arrangements will be protected through a grievance process, and grievances that are not settled prior to the final step of the grievance process can be referred to a new joint union-management panel for review in each department to address issues related to the employer’s application of the remote work directive in the workplace.

In addition to the letter signed between PSAC and Treasury Board, the President of CBSA has, in tandem with negotiations, committed in writing to establish a national joint CIU-CBSA committee to engage in consultation concerning the hybrid work model at CBSA. The committee has committed to meet immediately, well before Spember2024

PSAC and Treasury Board have also agreed to create a joint committee to review and update the telework policy for the government last updated in 2020 – before the pandemic began.

Next steps

FB group members will be invited to participate in online ratification votes will be shared as soon as possible. Details about the ratification vote process will be shared in the coming days. Our bargaining team is unanimously recommending a YES vote.

To ensure that you receive all updates and can participate in the ratification process, please update your contact information.

Attachments:

2024-06-13_fb_border_services_-_ratification_kit.pdf

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

After nearly two years of without a contract, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) have reached tentative agreements with Treasury Board and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for over 9,000 members of the FB bargaining unit.

The four-year agreement – spanning from June 2022 to June 2026 – includes a total compounded wage increase of 15.7%, highlighting the value of the work done by FB unit members and exceeding recent wage increases provided in other Canadian law enforcement agencies. Additionally, the agreement features enhanced protections relative to technological changes, and better provisions for shift scheduling and leave.

Full details of tentative agreement

“Our bargaining team worked around the clock to secure the best contract for our members, and this tentative agreement is a testament to their incredible hard work and dedication,” said Sharon DeSousa, PSAC National President. “This is a well-deserved victory for our members at CBSA who safeguard our nation’s borders and ensure the safety and security of all Canadians.”

The agreement, reached after nine days of around-the-clock negotiations, avoids potential job action at Canada’s borders.

“I’m proud of the solidarity our members have shown over the past two years of negotiations,” said Mark Weber, CIU National President. “Our bargaining team couldn’t have won this agreement without the support of thousands of members across the country who supported their efforts.”

The FB bargaining team is unanimously recommending ratification of the tentative agreement. An online vote will take place in the coming weeks.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) have reached a tentative agreement for more than 9,000 workers at CBSA, avoiding potential job action at Canada’s borders.

“Our bargaining team has been working around the clock to secure the best contract for our members, and this tentative agreement is a testament to their incredible hard work and dedication,” said Sharon DeSousa, PSAC National President. ”This is a well-deserved victory for our members at CBSA who safeguard our nation’s borders and ensure the safety and security of all Canadians.”

Full details of the tentative agreement will be announced once the ratification kit is available for members Thursday, June 13.

“I’m proud of the solidarity our members have shown over that past two years of negotiations,” said Mark Weber, CIU National President. “Our bargaining team couldn’t have won this agreement without the strength and support shown by thousands of members across the country who took action to support our bargaining team.”

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

More than 9,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) will begin job action across the country starting June 14 at 12:01 a.m. ET if an agreement is not reached at the table with Canada Border Services Agency and Treasury Board.

Job action was postponed Friday, June 7 after mediation talks were extended to reach an agreement.

“We are still hopeful we can avoid a strike and potential disruptions at Canada’s borders,” said Sharon DeSousa, PSAC National President.” No worker wants a strike, but we’ve set a firm deadline for this government to come to the table with a fair agreement.”

Workers at CBSA represented by PSAC-Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) have been without a contract for over two years. They include border services officers at airports, land entry points, marine ports, and commercial ports of entry, inland enforcement officers, intelligence officers, investigators, trade officers, and more than 2,000 non-uniformed headquarters staff.

Job action by CBSA personnel in 2021 nearly brought commercial cross-border traffic to a standstill, causing major delays at airports and borders across the country and a marathon 36-hour bargaining session to reach an agreement.

“Our members have overwhelmingly told us they are ready to fight for equitable retirement, fair wages and to make CBSA a better place to work,” said Mark Weber, CIU National President. “Now it’s time for the government to deliver a fair contract for CBSA employees.”

The two sides remain in negotiations this week with the assistance of a mediator. Due to the sensitive nature of ongoing negotiations, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Customs and Immigration Union will not be providing media interviews during mediation.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

The Border Services (FB) bargaining unit consists of over 9,000 PSAC-CIU members working at Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), who are responsible for protecting Canada’s borders and the planning, development, delivery, inspection and control of people and goods entering Canada.

The collective agreement expired in June 2022 and FB members have been without a contract for nearly two years.

The FB bargaining team is committed to reaching a fair contract that protects our hard-fought gains and provides new rights and protections for PSAC-CIU members.

Key issues at the bargaining table include:

Wage parity: FB members deserve fair wages that are aligned with other law enforcement agencies across the country – for both uniformed and non-uniformed members alike.
Stronger job security: CBSA’s approach to discipline is heavy-handed and leads to a toxic workplace culture. We need better protections for workers from management harassment and abuse of authority.
Access to telework: FB non-uniformed members deserve consistent and flexible access to telework options.
Protections from contracting out: The use of automated systems, untrained student workers and contracting out means higher costs, more risk, and reduced quality of services for Canadians.  We need to end contracting out and fight for good, secure public service jobs.

We’ve also made it clear that if this government is serious about achieving a new collective agreement, Treasury Board President Anita Anand must honour the commitment made during the last round of bargaining and make equitable 25-and-out retirement a reality for FB members. Law enforcement personnel at CBSA deserve the same treatment and retirement benefits as their counterparts in other law enforcement agencies.

Following the release of our strike mandate, many of you are asking what happens now. Your bargaining team will be in mediation starting June 3rd.

To provide members with as much information as possible, we have compiled key questions and answers. This page will be updated periodically, check back for more information.

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Next steps

If you have any other questions, please contact your branch president, your PSAC regional office, or refer to the PSAC Strike Manual. You can also participate in a strike and essential services training session, which will expand on many of these themes in more detail. Training sessions are being scheduled. Stay tuned for more information.

We make tremendous gains when we exercise our right to strike. It’s one of our most effective tools to ensure the employer understands we deserve respect and listens to our demands. Keep these things in mind when you speak with your family, people in your community, and other union members. We are stronger together.

This article was originally posted on the PSAC website.

The clock is ticking to avoid a nationwide strike at Canada’s borders by more than 9,000 Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) employees. Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) will begin job action across the country starting June 7 at 4 p.m. ET if an agreement is not reached at the table with CBSA and Treasury Board this week.

“We are still hopeful that we can reach an agreement to avoid strike action and any potential delays at Canada’s borders,” said Sharon DeSousa, PSAC National President. “But the clock is ticking for Trudeau’s Liberal government to get to work on a fair contract for our members.”

PSAC members in the FB bargaining group have been without a contract for over two years. Key issues in this round of bargaining include fair wages that are aligned with other law enforcement agencies across the country, flexible telework and remote work options, equitable retirement benefits for CBSA law enforcement personnel and stronger workplace protections.

Job action by CBSA personnel in 2021 nearly brought commercial cross-border traffic to a standstill, causing major delays at airports and borders across the country and a marathon 36-hour bargaining session to reach an agreement.

“Our members have overwhelmingly told us they are prepared to fight for fair wages, equitable retirement and to make CBSA a better place to work,” said Mark Weber, CIU National President. “It’s time for the government to step up for CBSA employees.”

The two sides remain in negotiations this week with the assistance of a mediator in a last-ditch effort to reach an agreement.

This article was originally posted on the PSAC website.