Tag Archives: négociation

REMINDER: FB bargaining conference: Members of equity groups, women and young workers encouraged to apply

PSAC-CIU members who self-identify in one of the groups listed below are encouraged to apply to attend the FB National Bargaining Conference before the February 4 deadline.

Eligible groups:

Indigenous
Racially visible
LGBTQ2+
Member with disability
Woman
Young worker (aged 35 or younger)

Bargaining conferences bring together members to discuss and prioritize the issues that will be negotiated during the upcoming round of collective bargaining. Participation of all groups is critical to ensure important equity issues are represented at the bargaining table.

How to apply

As established in Regulation 15, Section 3.3.3, delegates chosen to attend the bargaining conference must:

be members of the bargaining unit;
be dedicated union activists, engaged in union activities and committed to union principles, including social justice and human rights.

Please submit your application via the PSAC website before February 4 at 11:59 EST to be considered.

Note: Applying does not guarantee a delegate seat at the bargaining conference.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

FB bargaining: No evidence of ‘culture change’ at CBSA

The FB bargaining team continued to push for greater protections against harassment and abuse of authority by management during negotiations with Treasury Board/Canada Border Services Agency March 9-12.

Yet despite buzzwords like promoting inclusion, respectfulness and the elimination of harassment in CBSA’s 2020-2021 Department Plan – unveiled this week – there was little evidence of a tonal shift on these or other issues at the bargaining table.

Our team made proposals to enhance protections against abuse of authority and harassment, but management still hasn’t agreed to any of these changes. CBSA is taking the position that language in our contract should continue to be limited largely to sexual harassment. We can’t accept this, as we believe our collective agreement should address all forms of harassment, not just sexual harassment.

We also spoke to our proposed expansion of protections against CBSA management’s heavy-handedness in dealing with our members – including discipline and the arbitrary removal of defensive equipment. There will need to be new protections on these issues in our collective agreement.

There can be no ‘culture change’ without real action

The departmental plan also refers to a long-term reduction in CBSA staff. Our members are already short-staffed and spread thin; PSAC-CIU are prepared to fight any move to reduce staff.

Lastly, the plan speaks of ‘leveraging technology to enable flexibility’, yet CBSA refuses to reinstate fair and reasonable telework practices for Trade Compliance Officers and other non-uniformed personnel.

With respect to wages, our review of recent law enforcement wage settlements across Canada is ongoing – including our monitoring of contract talks for a first collective agreement for RCMP officers. Our position has always been that FB 3s should be matched to RCMP 1^st class constables. In past rounds of bargaining, we’ve always reached agreements with full retroactive wage increases for our members. We have no intention of doing otherwise this round.

We’ll be returning to the table in early May and are in discussions for additional dates into the summer.

We’ll provide updates as bargaining continues. To review the package of proposals that we’ve tabled, and those of the employer, click here.

The original version of this article was first posted on the PSAC website.

FB bargaining team calls for end of FB-02 status for Border Services Officers

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.

Leave provisions

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.

Pay parity for Border Services Officers

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.

Workplace changes without consent

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.

FB Bargaining: Members of Equity Groups Encouraged to Apply to Upcoming Conference

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is issuing a call-out for equity group members to attend the Border Services (FB) National Bargaining Conference. PSAC equity activists (Indigenous Peoples, racialized workers, LGBTQ2+ members, and members with disabilities), Regional Women’s Committee (RWC) members, and young worker activists (35 years old or younger) are encouraged to apply:

FB National Bargaining Conference

October 10 – 12, 2018
Marriott Residence Inn, 161 Laurier Street, Ottawa, ON
Component: Customs and Immigration Union (CIU)

Bargaining conferences bring together members to discuss and prioritize the issues that will be negotiated during the upcoming rounds of collective bargaining.

The participation of all groups is critical. We especially encourage equity group members, young workers and RWC members to participate in these upcoming conferences to ensure important equity issues are represented at the bargaining table.

How to apply

To attend the FB National Bargaining Conference:

delegates must be employed by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA),
hold office in CIU, or
demonstrate evidence of union activism.

Please submit your application before August 17, 2018 to be considered for the upcoming conference.

A version of this article was posted on the PSAC website.