Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

Next Young Workers virtual meeting

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If you are 35 years old or younger and want to get involved with your union, you are invited to participate in the next CIU Young Workers virtual meeting over Zoom, on March 19, 2024, 7-8 p.m. ET. This is an opportunity to make your voice heard and discuss shared issues with your fellow young workers.

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“Solutions to border problems must involve officers”: National President addresses Standing Committee on Public Safety

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On Monday, February 26,  2024, the National President of the Customs and Immigration Union, Mark Weber, addressed the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security as part of the Committee’s study on the growing problem of car thefts in Canada.

The issue of stolen vehicles being exported from the Port of Montreal has received much attention in the last months, with many solutions being proposed by political leaders. Yet, as the National President stressed in his opening remarks to the Committee,  “no effort was made to find out from the officers working on the frontline what was required to facilitate examinations” to help curb the issue.

“If anyone had asked the question, they would have been told that a lack of space is the primary factor impacting the volume of examinations performed at the Port of Montreal,” explained the National President to the Committee, highlighting that “this is yet another example of what the Customs and Immigration Union has been flagging for a long time: Solutions to border problems must involve the officers who perform the work on a daily basis. Once again, we are seeing solutions either proposed by people who have never done the work or adopted under the advisement of individuals who have never done the work.”

This is situation is truly unique within the realm of law enforcement. “Whereas senior officials in most law enforcement organizations have some level of frontline experience, that is not the case at CBSA” explained the National President. “The result is an unparalleled disconnect between the upper echelons and the frontline.”

The National President also discussed the dire need for more frontline officers, concluding that “investment in personnel — in people — is paramount. Even where personnel issues may not be the primary factor, the ability of the Agency to protect Canadians and adapt to new challenges rests on a properly staffed frontline.”

See selected clips below. A full recording of the Committee proceedings can be viewed here (with interpretation language options).

PA Group: Update on Occupational Group Structure review 

Treasury Board informed PSAC they will be making changes to the Program and Administrative Services Occupational Group Structure (OGS) review timeline and next steps due to their continued inability to meet the target date of June 24, 2024. Treasury Board is unable to provide a new target date at this time.

The OGS review is an effort by Treasury Board to modernize classifications in the core public service by updating and replacing outdated occupational group definitions and job evaluation standards. This work is intended to align classification groups, many of which are decades old, with the work of today’s public service. Members working in the federal public service can find out more by visiting the Classification Renewal GCintranet page (only accessible for federal government employees).

PSAC’s longstanding objectives on classification reform continue to be:

  • Replacing the current, outdated Treasury Board classification system;
  • Developing job evaluation standards and job descriptions that reflect current work realities and that are compliant with pay equity standards.

PSAC is pursuing a policy grievance on Treasury Board’s lack of meaningful consultation, and we are awaiting a hearing date.

PSAC will continue to ensure that consultation takes place and that our members are kept informed throughout the process.

Preparations underway for PA conversion 

Departments and agencies of the core public administration are preparing for the PA conversion by making sure all information related to positions in human resources systems is accurate and up to date, and that job descriptions are ready to be evaluated.

PA group members may receive updated job descriptions or may be asked to comment on proposed job descriptions. We encourage you to contact your union local or PSAC component for guidance if you have concerns about your current job description.

How will this affect my job classification? 

At this point, the employer has not completed its job description evaluation, so we do not know how individual positions will be classified under the new system.

Later in the conversion process, PA group members will receive advance notice of the anticipated classification of their positions from their human resources departments. We will provide members with information on what to expect before this stage in the process begins.

For now, you can find a high-level overview of the anticipated composition of the new PA sub-groups in our previous update.

We will keep you updated as the implementation moves forward. You can also reach us with your questions at PA-OGS@psac-afpc.com.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

“A glaring disregard for basic management practices” — Auditor General on ArriveCAN

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The Auditor General of Canada’s February 2024 report regarding the procurement process around the ArriveCAN application is as scathing as it is unsurprising for anyone familiar with management at the Canada Border Services Agency.

While the report focuses mainly on the contracting and development aspects of the application, much of what the Auditor General’s office found will surely resonate with CIU members who are all too well acquainted with the Agency’s bottom-of-the-barrel labour relations practices.

In her opening statement to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Auditor General noted the “glaring disregard for basic management practices” uncovered during the audit.

As our members know, this disregard for proper managerial procedures is deeply embedded within the Agency, often with little consequence for the managers. Be it in terms of the profound lack of accountability found at all management levels, of the tendency to retaliate against employees for speaking up, or of the poorly run, arbitrary internal investigative and disciplinary processes — CBSA management’s track record speaks for itself. While keen on punishing its lower-level employees at the slightest allegation, the Agency is known to turn a blind eye to far more serious breaches within management.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the procurement process that led to the Agency’s ArriveCAN application would be fraught with issues. And it should come as no surprise that the resulting product has been found to be of poor value to Canadians. What should also be stressed is how this poor value extends far beyond the mere economic aspect. ArriveCAN, in its current form, actively undermines the security of Canadians by removing crucial interactions between officers and travellers. It is the cornerstone of CBSA’s ‘border modernization’ strategy, which focuses entirely on facilitation with no thought for the safety and security of our communities.

With important security matters at the forefront of national discussions — stolen car exports, gun smuggling, the opioid crisis — it is especially galling to see the Agency squander in the worst possible way nearly $60 million on an app that ultimately does very little. It is irresponsible for the Agency leadership and for the federal government to inject such funds into a project of this kind instead of hiring much needed additional staff or seeking to improve existing infrastructure, which would bring real value to Canadians.

This is to say little of the Agency’s decision to spend dozens of millions of dollars on the private sector instead of choosing to invest in its workers and reinforcing their capacity to act on behalf of Canadians. At a time where our members are being nickeled and dimed at the bargaining table, this is nothing less than a slap in the face.

CIU members are proud of the work they do to serve Canadians and of their role as Canada’s first line of defence. Yet CBSA management’s actions continue to cast a shadow on the organization as a whole. The Auditor General’s report brings to light what many of our members have known for a long time, and we call on CBSA President Erin O’Gorman to seize this opportunity to overhaul the Agency so that debacles of the sort are no longer the norm.

Employment Opportunity: Digital Communications Specialist (indeterminate position)

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The Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) is seeking to hire a bilingual Digital Communications Specialist to be staffed on a full-time indeterminate basis.

Applications will be received until close of business on March 8, 2024 (5:00 p.m. EST). Please see the full posting here (PDF) for more information about the position, the associated duties and requirements, and on how to apply.