Last week CBSA and Treasury Board attempted to bypass the collective bargaining process by dropping off an offer via envelope at the PSAC office in Ottawa on Monday, and by communicating certain elements of the offer to union members that night. PSAC responded by stating clearly that all discussion regarding negotiations and offers must happen first and foremost at the bargaining table with our elected negotiating team. On Thursday Treasury Board consented to returning to the table and on Monday our Team met with representatives for CBSA and Treasury Board. Management did not have their full bargaining team present. We met with them until well after midnight on Tuesday morning.
At the table management reviewed its initial final offer with us. After discussion over the course of the day and into the night, the employer made modifications to its offer. To view a complete copy of the employer’s offer, go to: http://www.psac-afpc.org/documents/bargaining/fb_employer_offer_may6_2013-en.pdf. Treasury Board/CBSA’s offer includes the end of severance for the purposes of voluntary termination, the elimination of the Telework Committee appendix agreed to for Trade Compliance employees, and a new appendix concerning the arming initiative that removes employee protections agreed to in the last round of bargaining and effectively removes any serious consultation between the union and employer concerning selection of employees for firearm training.
In tandem with this the government has increased our out-of-pocket contributions to our pension plan (while other federal enforcement workers are afforded a superior, ‘25 and out’ pension scheme), employees hired as of January 1 will now have to work longer to access pension benefits, CBSA is in the process of cutting 1,300 positions, has begun replacing officers at airports with machines and has refused to agree to reintroduce telework practices for Trade Compliance employees. CBSA has imposed name tags on uniformed officers, despite the health and safety concerns raised by the union.
In exchange for all of this Treasury Board/CBSA are offering a 1.75% increase in 2011, 1.5% in 2012 and a 2% increase in 2013. There is a one-time, lump-sum payment of $2000.00 for those employees with firearm certification and who work in positions requiring the use of a duty firearm for the performance of their duties, or who meet these criteria by 2016. There are improvements to bereavement and family-related leave that reflect what was agreed to for other groups. The offer expands seniority rights.
While the expansion of seniority rights represents progress, the fact is that this offer does very little to bring us closer to the terms and conditions of employment of employees working for other federal law enforcement agencies. There is nothing in the employer’s offer that provides for a paid meal period or pension reform consistent with what is provided Corrections workers and the RCMP. What’s more many other groups that have reached settlement with the Treasury Board have seen improvements beyond the wage pattern contained in this offer. For example, Parole Officers received a new increment worth 5.5% in their settlement, Firefighters an increase worth 4.75% – both on top of the wage increases contained in the offer made to the FB group. With respect wages, while many have received more, no group has received less than the wage increases contained in CBSA/Treasury Board’s offer for us. Also issues specific to nonuniformed employees such as telework and clothing allowance remain unaddressed. Treasury Board’s contract offer does not contain language addressing issues related to part-time employees.
We do not have a recommendation yet from the Public Interest Commission. Our Essential Services Agreements are not yet finalized. The offer presented by CBSA/Treasury Board on Monday is inferior to a number of other settlements reached in the federal public service, and removes some of the protections agreed to in the last round of bargaining. Given these facts, our National Bargaining Team, after having consulted with the CIU Executive and CIU National Board of Directors last week, unanimously indicated on Monday night that we are prepared to negotiate, but that we are not prepared to accept Treasury Board’s current offer. Over the coming days additional information will be posted on the PSAC and CIU websites, and general membership meetings are being scheduled across the country. We will be sure to update as things progress.
