In 2013, CBSA installed Automated Border Clearance (ABC) kiosks at three airports: Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. These kiosks are having a detrimental effect on the security of Canadians. You can’t replace people with machines. Since the introduction of this technology, seizures have dropped by 25%. On October 8, more than 100 CIU members demonstrated at the Pearson Airport to demand greater border security in Canada.
On Thursday October 8, one hundred CIU members in Vancouver voiced their concerns regarding the Harper government systematically attacking our rights and collective agreements. First it was severance, then it was our right to strike. The Conservatives are putting national security at risk by cutting CBSA staff and replacing officers with machines.
It has been some time since we have provided an update to our members with respect to those of you who cannot take the CDT and Arming course based on a ground listed in the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) or who have tried and been unable to successfully complete the course.
Much has transpired since last April when the CBSA issued its Letters of Confirmation. The CBSA remains fixed on having only tooled/armed members with face to face enforcement duties working on the front line. While the CIU/PSAC disputes that the employer has established this as a bona fide occupational requirement, we are nonetheless working with the CBSA to ensure that our members are treated fairly.
With that in mind, the CBSA and CIU/PSAC (CIU National Executive: Mark Weber, Brea Lewis, André Beaulieu, Chantal Rajotte and myself as well as CIU National EO Representative Murray Star, PSAC Legal Officer Lisa Addario and CIU Labour Relations Officer Laurel Randle) have been working to establish a strategy for the placement of the CBSA employees/CIU members who require accommodation or placement for reasons outlined in the first paragraph above.
We first worked to agree on some principles. In the meantime, the employer undertook to have regional management and human resources compile preliminary lists of employees who hold front line positions and who need to be accommodated under the CHRA, and to look at placement opportunities for these employees within those regions.
The CBSA has asserted that our members who are already in accommodated positions that do not involve face to face enforcement interactions with clients will remain in those positions.
For those employees who are in face to face enforcement positions, have limitations that are at least twelve months in duration and who will require accommodation by the March 31, 2016 arming implementation deadline, accommodated positions will be offered to them at their substantive level. This accommodation will be negotiated on a case by case basis. The employer has asserted that it has sufficient meaningful work for all these employees.
Under federal law, the employer has a duty to accommodate employees to the point of undue hardship and CBSA recognizes this obligation.
The CIU will be monitoring this process closely. We must also make sure that the list of employees compiled by the employer is comprehensive.
We have asserted that the employer ought not to be offering our members demotions in this process and the principle agreed to by the CBSA is to find positions that are at the members’ substantive group and level.
With the above principles established, the parties agreed to a pilot for Southern Ontario Region within the Border Services Officer community. During the third week in August, CBSA management met with CIU representatives in Niagara Falls. Preliminary discussions were held wherein the CBSA brought forward the names of our members impacted as well as potential placement opportunities. Initially, the next step was for CIU representatives to meet with members individually to discuss their particular needs and options. However – and because we recognized that once such discussions would start, news would certainly spread and questions would abound – it was decided that before taking that step we would provide our membership with this piece of communication to inform them of the strategy and the meetings that will take place over the coming months.
The SOR Branch Presidents, National Vice-President for that region and CIU/PSAC staff members as required will meet in the near future with the impacted members individually. Subsequently, the employer, employee and Union representatives will meet so that accommodation arrangements can be determined.
Once the pilot in SOR is reviewed, such meetings will take place across the country, with the next region being the Atlantic. A schedule will be made available for the remainder of the country (before the end of September).
As a party to the accommodation process, the Union’s obligation is to not block a reasonable accommodation plan. The employer intends to canvass employees who currently meet the use of force requirements and are not in front line positions, inviting them to consider other positions in this regard so as to ensure continued employment opportunities for those members who require an accommodation in an unarmed/untooled position.
CIU and PSAC will be making every effort to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible. If you have any questions regarding the above, please see your union representative or Branch President.
CIU-SDI demonstrates its opposition to Bill C-59 at Minister Steven Blaney’s office in Quebec City.
The government tabled last month the Budget Implementation Act (Bill C-59) that attacks our collective bargaining rights.
The Bill authorizes Treasury Board to modify collective agreements to remove sick leave and impose a short and long term disability plan outside of collective agreements. The Bill circumvents the Public Service Labour Relations Act as well as ongoing negotiations.
The Supreme Court established the right to collective bargaining as a Charter right – and we will defend that right using all means at our disposal.
The CIU, its Branches and the PSAC have organized activities that will take place over the coming weeks outside MP offices and CBSA worksites in several locations across the country.
We call on all CIU-PSAC members to participate in activities organized by their Branch. We also encourage all members to contact their Member of Parliament and Senator. Free collective bargaining is a Charter right. We uphold the Charter as law enforcement personnel. The Government should respect our right to free collective bargaining.
On Wednesday April 29, delegates attending the 2015 PSAC National Triennial Convention passed a resolution ensuring that all PSAC members who are required to carry firearms will have quick access to union-paid legal counsel if they use their firearm and/or other defense tools in the course of their duties.
This means that CIU members who are armed – Border Services Officers, Inland Enforcement Officers, Investigations Officers and Firearm Trainers – will be provided with protection that is vital given the work that they do.
The resolution also applies to other PSAC-represented law enforcement personnel, such as Fisheries Officers, Park Wardens and Wildlife Officers.
CIU thanks all PSAC delegates at the convention in Quebec City for supporting their Sisters and Brothers whose job is to enforce the law.
Further information and directives will be communicated to members as soon as these are available.
PSAC convention delegates meeting this week in Quebec City have wholeheartedly adopted an emergency resolution that mandates the union to: oppose government actions that will compromise any of our members’ rights; continue organizing and mobilizing our members through concerted and strategic actions with other unions to defend our bargaining rights; take the necessary legal action to defend our constitutional right to free collective bargaining; and work to elect a federal government that respects worker and union rights and federal public services, and that governs for the benefit of all Canadian workers.
For additional information, please visit: PSAC National Triennial Convention<
How else to describe the federal government’s intention to undermine our collective bargaining rights?
Sister Robyn Benson provides additional information in the attached letter and the following links will take you to the PSAC’s website for related announcements.
We will protect our sick leave
Government threatens collective bargaining rights in federal budget
“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:
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
