Meeting Between CBSA and CIU Presidents

17 August 2016

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.

PSAC seeks court order to protect sick leave in Treasury Board agreements

13 August 2016

PSAC has asked for a court order to stop the government from going ahead with their plans to remove sick leave provisions from collective agreements in the federal public service.

On August 10, the union filed a notice of motion with the Ontario Superior Court requesting an injunction against the sections of Bill C-59 (the 2015 budget implementation act) that allow Treasury Board to take sick leave provisions out of the collective bargaining process.

“Protecting our members’ rights is a top priority,” said PSAC national president Robyn Benson. “While the government is in a caretaker position until after the election, we are doing everything we can to ensure that they don’t proceed with their plans to gut our members’ sick leave protection.”

We have asked the Court to have our motion heard before the election takes place. The Professional Institute of the Public Service (PIPSC) has filed the same motion that also includes most of the other federal public service unions. We are working with them and asking the Court for a joint hearing.

PSAC is arguing that this is a serious issue and one that will cause irreparable harm because it involves substantial interference in our right to bargain collectively. C-59 not only gives Treasury Board the right to invalidate parts of existing collective agreements, it also undermines future bargaining.

In June, PSAC asked the Court to declare that the sick leave provisions of Bill C-59 are in direct violation of our members’ right to free collective bargaining under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and to declare them invalid. However, it is expected that the Court will not being to hear the case until mid-2016.

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Phoenix Issue: Minister Foote finally agrees to meet with PSAC

11 August 2016

Yesterday, the PSAC sent National President Jean-Pierre Fortin the following link regarding the Phoenix system: Minister Foote finally agrees to meet PSAC after repeated requests

By now, we are all familiar with the problems related to the Phoenix pay system and know that some CIU members have been affected. On behalf of all CIU members, Brother Jean-Pierre Fortin wishes to recognize the extraordinary efforts of our PA group colleagues in the Pay and Benefits Section who have been dealing with this difficult situation since mid-April.

Even if the new pay system will not allow them to fix problems immediately, they are doing everything they can to process emergency salary advances and ensure their sisters and brothers are paid.

True solidarity!

Remote Processing of Travellers: National VP and 1st VP meet with Hamilton members

9 August 2016

Jean-Pierre Fortin and Mark Weber with members from Hamilton Branch

On August 8, 2016, CIU Hamilton Branch members met with National President Jean-Pierre Fortin and 1^st National Vice-President Mark Weber, who were seeking to familiarize themselves with the Agency’s Telephone Reporting Centre System, used for the remote processing of travellers.

In January 18, 2016, CBSA launched a pilot project which allows Hamilton based officers to process travellers crossing at Morses Line, Quebec, some 700 km away.

Brothers Fortin and Weber were pleased to receive the feedback and comments of CIU members who process travellers using the telephone reporting system, and who could provide them with first-hand information about the ins and outs of remote processing.

Phoenix system privacy breach unacceptable, must be addressed immediately by the government

20 July 2016

Officials at Public Services Procurement Canada were aware that the Phoenix pay system might cause privacy breaches as early as January 2016, according to media reports released yesterday.

Minister Foote acknowledged last night that the private information of thousands of public service workers has been shared with close to 70,000 staff.

“This is serious and unacceptable. The private information of our members and all public service workers should not be in the hands of anyone who does not need it,” said PSAC National President, Robyn Benson.

“The government must let public service employees know immediately about what personal information has been shared and how they can take steps to protect their identities.”

“I am writing to the Privacy Commissioner immediately, as well as the Prime Minister and Minister Foote, to express our alarm.”

Government already aware of privacy concerns

The government was aware as early as January 2016 that there were grave privacy concerns with the Phoenix pay system. Despite this, the government consistently told employees that their privacy was fully protected.

PSAC shared privacy concerns

When we shared our concerns about privacy protection last May 2016, PSPC assured us that a Privacy Impact Assessment was completed and all privacy concerns had been addressed. It now appears that some aspect of this process was deeply flawed.

PSAC calling on the government for immediate action

* Information has be shared with all public service employees about what personal information has been shared and how they can take steps to protect their identity.

* A hotline must be created to address individual members concerns about privacy issues, staffed with knowledgeable agents.

* The government must commit to approving compensation for any employee who has incurred costs because of privacy violations.

“PSPC has consistently refused to listen to the PSAC and other unions with regards to problems with the Phoenix pay system, even though our concerns have been proven valid time and time again. 80,000 employees are experiencing issues with their pay. That is a staggering number,” concluded Benson.

This article was originally published on the PSAC website.

Vote to stop the cuts

14 July 2016

Canada’s border security jobs are being cut. This makes all Canadians vulnerable. Harper’s Conservatives are cutting public services across the country, without regard for the safety and welfare of millions of Canadians.

Get the facts

– The government plans to eliminate almost 1,100 positions at the Canada Border Services Agency by 2017, cuts that include front-line border workers, intelligence officials and sniffer-dog teams. (Source: CBSA Reports on Plans and Priorities)

– The government is cutting staff despite an increase in drug busts by CBSA security at the borders and indications of a rise in illegal weapons entering Canada.

– Government data show that more than 3,000 flights over the last two years have failed to provide complete passenger information to the CBSA because smaller airports have no Border Services Officers.

– Fewer Border Services Officers have meant a sharp decline in the number of fake passports being detected at ports of entry. (Source: La Presse)

PA Bargaining: “Optimism Quickly Fades”

27 June 2016

Following the announcement that the Liberal government is repealing sections of the anti-union Bill C-4, enacted by the Harper Conservatives, our PA Bargaining Team returned to the negotiation table, hopeful that the Treasury Board had a new mandate to engage in serious collective bargaining. Any optimism we had was dashed almost immediately by the employer’s opening statement that they were willing to make some minor movements only on the condition that the union remove a significant number of our demands from the table.

Child care: Our bargaining team invited Morna Ballantyne, PSAC’s Special Projects Officer responsible for the union’s childcare campaign, to outline the need for affordable childcare. Her presentation was informative and persuasive. We are looking to develop a joint national committee with the employer to assess child care needs of federal public sector workers and make recommendations on how to best meet those needs.

Wages and other demands: We presented our complete economic package, as well as language on whistleblowing, rest breaks during overtime, and language on acting pay, workplace violence and electronic surveillance. We also reviewed all of our outstanding issues with the employer.

We signed off on minor changes to the Personal Leave and Volunteer Leave articles, allowing employees to take the leave in half days.

We’ll be back at the bargaining table in September. If you see your Member of Parliament in the summer, please tell him or her to keep their hands off our sick leave. And if that MP is a Liberal, please remind him or her that the Liberals were elected on a promise of showing respect to the public service. It’s time to change their bargaining mandate from the one they inherited from Stephen Harper.

Sick Leave: Our position on the employer’s short-term disability plan remains unchanged, but we continue to seek either a renewal or improvements to the current sick leave regime.

In a meeting this week, the Coordinated Issues Committee, which includes representatives from all five PSAC bargaining teams for the core public administration, said that any short-term disability plan must reside in the collective agreement.

Stay informed and get involved: Our bargaining team will keep you informed throughout this process. In the coming weeks, we will advise you of the next round of bargaining dates. Watch this page for updates and be sure to talk to your colleagues about the importance of supporting our union throughout this process.

Get involved and spread the word, so we can keep the pressure on the employer and fight back against concessions. See the PSAC website for information regarding bargaining proposals.

FB Team Spends 7 Days in Contract Talks

24 June 2016

Starting Friday June 17, our FB Bargaining Team spent 7 days in negotiations with our employer. Here’s a summary of issues that were discussed during that period:

Pension Commitment: At the outset the Treasury Board indicated its position that collective bargaining is not an appropriate venue for pension reform discussions and that the concerns raised by PSAC and CIU with respect to an early retirement plan should happen elsewhere. Our Team made our union’s position clear – we seek a written commitment from both Treasury Board and the CBSA supporting the introduction of a retirement plan that is consistent with what is in place at other law enforcement agencies.

Wages: We proposed a market adjustment to take effect the first day of our contract that would peg the FB wage scale to that of an RCMP Constable 1st Class. We have also tabled a paid meal period, consistent with standards common in the broader law enforcement community.

Hours of Work – Shift Work and Compressed Work Weeks: This past week, we made proposals to enhance rights and protections for shift workers, including the elimination of potential ‘6 and 2’ schedules being implemented by management. We are also seeking fairer rules with respect to employees having the opportunity to relocate to different ports. With respect to day workers, we have proposed protections against management unilaterally revoking compressed work weeks.

Increased Protections: We tabled proposals to enhance protections in our collective agreement for front-line officers in the context of firearm recertification and control defence tactics training. We also re-iterated the importance of new protections against CBSA management in the context of discipline.

Workforce Adjustment: We discussed the questions raised by the employer on our proposed changes to the Workforce Adjustment Appendix and continue to strive to make improvements. We reiterated our position against the contracting out of work. Many unions have identified this issue as a major concern in this round of bargaining.

Sick Leave: Our position on the employer’s Short Term Disability Plan remains unchanged but we continue to seek either a renewal or improvements to the current sick leave regime.

We indicated to management that we are expecting answers from them on key issues that we’ve raised in this round of bargaining. For more information concerning FB negotiations and our next scheduled bargaining dates, be sure visit the FB Group bargaining section on the PSAC website.

Download the PDF version of this update (bilingual document).

Take Part in the June 8 National Day of Action!

31 May 2016

With major issues still on the bargaining table and seemingly little interest from the Employer in reaching a fair agreement, the five PSAC bargaining teams ‎(FB, PA, TC, SV, and EB) have agreed to hold a National Day of Action on June 8, 2016 in the form of coast-to-coast lunch hour pickets. The CFIA bargaining team, CFIA members, and National Joint Council Unions will also be participating.

Our goal is to show visible support for the bargaining teams and make sure that the government, Treasury Board and all Employers, including CBSA, know that members are mobilized and expect more from them on issues such as 25 & Out, Sick leave, and Protection in the context of discipline.

CIU/PSAC encourages everyone to participate but recognizes the challenges associated with a lunch hour picket for shift working members. If it is not possible for you to attend a lunch time event being held at your work location, we invite you to wear your orange badge and be creative in showing support for your bargaining teams. No workplace is too big or too small to participate! Please contact your Branch President for more information regarding the Day of Action.

PA Bargaining: “PA Bargaining Team Tackles Many Fronts”

15 May 2016

Child care: In negotiations this week with Treasury Board, our PA bargaining team called for the employer to join PSAC in a national joint committee to tackle the issue of affordable and accessible child care for all federal public service workers.

Public Works has been slowly ending subsidies for day care centres operating in several federal government buildings across the country, in some cases for more than two decades.

As an example, the Tupper Tots daycare in Ottawa closed its doors in 2014 after its rental subsidy was pulled. Today, the daycare at the Guy Favreau building in Montreal, and several others, are in jeopardy of closing, leaving potentially hundreds of parents who are federal government workers without childcare.

With a proposal that is common to all PSAC Treasury Board bargaining units, our bargaining team called on the employer to come together with the union over the life of the new agreement to examine options for providing appropriate day care facilities.

Definition of family: In a related vein, the bargaining team also reviewed with Treasury Board our proposal to expand the definition of family. We also proposed to remove language in the definition prohibiting an employee from accessing bereavement leave or family-related leave for any other relative for whom the employee has a duty of care unless that relative resides in the same household. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has found such language to be discriminatory, although Treasury Board is appealing that decision. We pointed out that the NJC Relocation Directive has already been amended to remove this discriminatory language.

Professional development: The PA team also proposed a Memorandum of Understanding for professional development of Parole and Program Officers at the Correctional Service of Canada. We explained the need for these members to have appropriate opportunities for professional training and development.

Leave: We also pressed for a Compensatory Leave provision as per the provision signed off at the TC table a full year ago, allowing employees up to 18 months to use compensatory leave before it is cashed out.

We also offered a Memorandum of Understanding requiring the employer to disclose what the operational needs are, should it refuse leave requests due to “operational requirements.

Whistleblowing: We also discussed the need for whistleblowing language to be enshrined in the Collective Agreement to protect employees who report wrongdoing.

Sick leave: Our position is that we continue to seek either a renewal or improvements to the current sick leave regime.

General economic increases: All PSAC tables proposed a general economic increase of 3% per year this week. This is in addition to the allowances and market adjustments that our team has or will be making in subsequent bargaining sessions.

Workforce adjustment: We discussed our proposed changes to the Workforce Adjustment Appendix. The employer’s bargaining team had a significant number of questions about our proposals that we will respond to in our next meeting. We reiterated our position against the contracting out of work. Many unions have identified this issue as a major concern in this round of bargaining.

See the PSAC website for information regarding bargaining proposals.