The most recent FB collective agreement, which expires on June 20, 2026, is now available on the Treasury Board website. As per article 10.02, where electronic access to the agreement is impractical, members can also request a printed copy from their local manager. We invite all members to avail themselves of this option to ensure easy access to the collective agreement at all times.
The FB bargaining team continued their push to make Canada Border Services Agency a better place to work during talks with Treasury Board/CBSA the week of January 20, but the employer still refuses to budge on any meaningful improvements.
Our team highlighted issues around:
The employer still insists that officers must display their names on name tags. Our team reiterated that this practice puts officers at risk and is unacceptable.
Our bargaining team firmly opposes the need for medical notes when employees are sick. CBSA shouldn’t be asking employees to provide medical notes, and if the Agency wants one provided, they should reimburse members for it.
The employer rejected our proposal for a paid meal period, but we’re maintaining our position. Officers have to tool-up and tool-down for lunch; otherwise they have to wear their tools during lunch. Given this reality, meal periods should be paid like other law enforcement agencies.
Paid time for firearm practice: Our team is seeking to have paid firearm practice time provided to officers under the collective agreement equivalent to two shifts per year.
There are significant problems with the way management assigns officers to new locations. Across Canada, there are officers who are looking to work in different parts of the country. But right now, management passes over senior officers for these assignments and even places new hires in locations where union members are looking to work. We are seeking a fair and transparent process where officers can exercise their seniority if they wish to change districts or regions.
We again raised the issue of telework for our non-uniformed members. Our team does not understand why CBSA chiefs and superintendents get their telework approved regularly, while non-frontline staff who require an accommodation are denied telework. This is yet another example of the double standard at CBSA, where management gets preferential treatment over employees. We want language in the contract to address this issue.
CBSA is proposing that VSSAs should no longer be negotiated, but rather run through a ‘consultation’ process with our union. All too often at CBSA, ‘consultation’ means ‘impose’. We told CBSA “No” and rejected their proposal. Our team doesn’t trust CBSA management with our hours of work.
We also discussed student issues, the dog hander allowance and reiterated our position concerning pension reform.
To review the package of proposals that we tabled as well as those of the employer, visit: psacunion.ca/fb-group. We’ll continue to provide updates during our next bargaining session the week of February 23. To see other updates on Treasury Board bargaining, check out psacunion.ca/treasury-board.
Together as FBs, we’ve achieved incredible victories over the years. PSAC is the largest union in the federal public service, and one of the largest public sector unions in the country. No other union has more experience in bargaining and representation within the federal public service than PSAC and CIU.
Standing together, we will continue to work together and hold the CBSA’s feet to the fire to ensure we can continue to make groundbreaking gains for FB members.
The original version of this article was first posted on the PSAC website.
Our PSAC-Customs and Immigration Union (PSAC-CIU) bargaining team raised issues around vacation leave, medical notes, student workers and firearm practice time during negotiations with Treasury Board/Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) July 30 to August 1.
The team also reached an agreement to fairly compensate CBSA dog handlers.
Other key issues discussed at the table include:
We continue to raise problems related to CBSA management culture and CBSA’s dealings with employees. In addition to proposals we’ve made concerning new protections in the context of discipline, abuse of authority and harassment, our team spoke again this week to our proposal to ensure whistleblowing protections are in place for PSAC/CIU members in the event of CBSA wrongdoing.
Our team addressed the need for us to achieve improved leave and work-life balance. Most ports are understaffed, and overtime use is rampant. We have proposed an increase in annual leave to match what RCMP constables are afforded. We also raised issues related to access to leave with income averaging (LWIA).
There is no clear policy with respect to employees being required to provide medical notes. CBSA managers often require employees to provide medical notes based on subjective criteria. Our position is that if management wants a medical note, they can pay for the costs associated with obtaining it.
Our team is demanding that officers be provided paid time for firearm practice, consistent with the Agency’s previous practice.
We again raised the issue of students working at airports. In several locations across the country, students are being employed as a cheap labour force and undermining both the safety and security of Canadians and our collective agreement rights. Our proposals in bargaining regarding student use would rectify these issues.
We continued this week to push for language that would streamline the grievance process, and to provide better access to telework options for non-uniformed personnel. We also raised and resolved issues with CBSA management with respect to compensation for officers with dog-handling responsibilities.
We are scheduled to return to the bargaining table in September.
To review the package of proposals that we tabled and those of the employer, go to: psacunion.ca/fb. We’ll be sure to provide updates as things progress.
Together as FBs, we’ve achieved incredible victories over the years. PSAC is the largest union in the federal public service, and one of the largest public sector unions in the country. No other union has more experience in bargaining and representation within the federal public service than PSAC and CIU.
Standing together, we will continue to work together and hold the CBSA’s feet to the fire to ensure we can continue to make groundbreaking gains for FB members.
The original version of this article was first posted on the PSAC website.
The PSAC-Customs and Immigration Union (PSAC-CIU) bargaining team representing the Border Services (FB) group made limited progress in their latest round of negotiations with Treasury Board/Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) the week of May 13.
Over the course of the three days of negotiations, the parties discussed a number of issues. With respect to leave, the employer has proposed to make Care and Nurturing Leave (Article 41 Leave for Care of Family) “subject to operational requirements”. The bargaining team told Treasury Board that the team is not prepared to take steps backwards in this round of negotiations, and that “subject to operational requirements” at CBSA all too often means “NO”, and results in grievances. The PSAC-CIU team rejected this proposal.
However, the parties did make limited progress with respect to employees accessing Compassionate Care Leave and Caregiving Leave.
The team discussed the FB-02 situation. We have indicated to the employer that FB-02 Border Services Officers (BSOs) are effectively doing the same job as FB-03s, and are therefore being exploited as a cheap labour force. While the union and hundreds of members have filed grievances on this issue, it is the union’s position that clear language should be introduced into the collective agreement to ensure that officers are paid at the FB-03 level as soon as they leave Rigaud. CBSA has denied this proposal. The PSAC-CIU team is maintaining its position.
The team raised the issue of CBSA making changes in workplaces without obtaining the union’s consent, and that we will be consulting legal counsel concerning potential further legal action against CBSA for making unilateral changes to conditions during collective bargaining.
Negotiations are set to resume June 11-13, 2019. Dates have also been set to meet throughout the summer.
Click here to review PSAC-CIU’s package of proposals as well as those of the employer.
For more information visit psacunion.ca/fb.
The original version of this article was first posted on the PSAC website.
As a show of support for our FB bargaining team returning to the table this week, we present our first vignette on union victories: The creation of the FB group, in 2007.
If border officers have a distinct voice today, it is thanks to the continued pressure and efforts of CIU and the support of PSAC. After years of lobbying by the union and its members, a stand-alone FB group was created in 2007, giving front-line personnel their own collective agreement and paving the way for true recognition as law enforcement. Prior to the FB group, these members were part of the much larger PA group. With this new structure, they took control of their own bargaining and representation.
Since the creation of the FB group, CIU and PSAC have succeeded in securing a remarkable 48% increase in compensation for front-line officers – the largest increase for law enforcement personnel achieved by any union in Canada since 2007.
Click for full-size version.
For more union victories, see this page, and follow us on social media using #CIUvictories.
