We enforce the law. It’s time we were treated accordingly.
Our PSAC/CIU bargaining team for the FB group spent three days in mediation with Treasury Board and CBSA this past week. We made no progress on our key priorities for this round of bargaining. We enforce the law. It’s time we were treated accordingly.
Compensation
Our position reflects wage parity with the RCMP. Management has rejected this proposal and instead tabled the PA wage settlement. This is unacceptable to us as it does not address our wage disparity with the broader law enforcement community.
Retirement Reform
We are seeking a commitment from Treasury Board that the government introduce a retirement regime consistent with other federal law enforcement agencies. Treasury Board has refused to do so. This is unacceptable.
New Protections
We must have new protections against CBSA management in this round – in the context of discipline (PSI and SRI), legal indemnification and against abuse of authority. Management has not addressed our concerns.
Hours of Work
Our team is seeking a paid meal period in line with other law enforcement agencies, as well as protections against management’s unilateral cancelation of compressed work weeks and telework arrangements. CBSA and Treasury Board have done nothing to address these issues. We deserve better.
CBSA Seeking Concessions
Management is seeking serious concessions, from watering down our VSSA protections to making Care and Nurturing leave subject to operational requirements and increasing its duration to a minimum of 12 weeks, to eliminating protections in the context of firearm certification that we have in our current agreement. These concessions are unacceptable.
Given the refusal of Treasury Board and CBSA to address our priorities, we have declared impasse and will be proceeding to the next steps in the process – filing for a Public Interest Commission (PIC). Get more information on the PIC process at http://psacunion.ca/what-happens-if-we-do-not-reach-agreement.
The leadership of the union and representatives from our bargaining team will be meeting in the coming weeks to discuss next steps beyond filing for a PIC. We’ll be sure to provide updates as things progress.
Download the PDF version of this update (bilingual document).