Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

FB bargaining: Bargaining team rejects concessions at Public Interest Commission hearings as strike votes continue

Against the backdrop of a nationwide strike vote for over 9,000 members in the FB group, our bargaining team rejected concessions put forward by representatives from Treasury Board and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) during Public Interest Commission (PIC) hearings April 22.

PSAC-CIU presented our arguments to reach a fair contract for FB members during PIC hearings April 10. FB members deserve fair wages that are aligned with other law enforcement agencies across the country, telework for non-uniformed personnel, better rights around discipline, technological change, hours of work, and equitable retirement.

Employer concessions would roll back gains for members

During the hearing, the employer argued that “compensation levels for the FB group are adequate” based on their ability to “attract and retain a substantial FB workforce.” However, this shows willful ignorance on their part because staffing shortages have created ripple effects throughout the agency as CBSA tries to fill the gaps by denying leave for workers and using untrained workers and machines to replace our members’ work.

The employer also stated that it is inappropriate to compare members of the FB bargaining unit – including Hearings, Programs, Trade, Inland Enforcement, Investigations, Intelligence and Border Services Officers – with other large law enforcement organizations such as municipal, provincial, and federal police forces. This argument doesn’t hold water considering CBSA is Canada’s second largest law enforcement agency.

Toxic workplace culture at CBSA

Treasury Board and CBSA representatives also argued that excessive discipline and management heavy-handedness is not a problem at CBSA. However, this flies in the face of what PSAC and CIU members see and hear in the workplace every day and what has been repeatedly reported in Public Service Employee Surveys. Senior management is completely out of touch with the work we do day in and day out and the toxic workplace culture at CBSA.

The employer also held on to proposed collective agreement changes that would gut our right to negotiate variable shift scheduling agreements, give managers the ability to change shift change notice from seven days to 48 hours, and add restrictions to leave without pay for the care of family.

We have worked to keep Canada’s borders secure, and we deserve to be treated with respect.

Next steps

In the coming weeks, the PIC board will provide a non-binding recommendation to reach an agreement based on the hearings.  While federal legislation provides for the PIC to issue its recommendation within 30 days of the hearing, the chair may extend that timeline.

Strike vote and mobilization continue

PSAC and CIU continue to hold a nationwide strike vote for the FB group April 10 to May 15, ramping up the pressure on CBSA in advance of the release of the PIC report. FB members will be in a legal strike position seven days after the release of the PIC report.

Be sure to keep your contact information up to date to receive all the latest updates. If you have any questions, please contact your Customs and Immigration Union branch president or visit the CIU and PSAC websites.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

CBSA fails to take responsibility, blames ongoing strike votes for CARM delays

Photo of CIU flag

In a memo sent to all Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) employees on April 19, 2024, the Agency announced that the implementation of part of the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) system would be delayed until Fall 2024.

This announcement is source of relief for CBSA officers and personnel across the country. Amongst CIU members, there is near universal consensus about the severe lack of adequate training on CARM just mere days before the system was set to be rolled out on May 13, with potentially disastrous impacts on several industry sectors as well as on the Agency’s ability to deliver services to Canadians. The Agency’s training infrastructure is woefully insufficient, and this has never been more evident than with the CARM project.

What’s more, the report tabled on April 18 by the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade also makes clear that CARM simply cannot be implemented without further study on its possible ramifications.

Simply put, as it stands, the CARM project is the cause of great uncertainty for many, as it appears to follow the same patterns established by previous CBSA projects — notably ArriveCAN — where a rushed system is deployed as a solution to a non-existent problem without proper consultation with key actors, including the Agency’s own employees and the union which represents them. Of note, there has yet to be any consultation with the union at the national level regarding CARM.

To see the implementation of CARM delayed, at least in part, is undoubtedly good news.

CBSA shifts the blame

What is troubling, however, is that once again CBSA continues to display the same lack of accountability we’ve come to expect from the Agency’s management. In its April 19 message to its employees, instead of citing the grave concerns that have come to light regarding the project and taking responsibility for its own lack of planning and foresight, the Agency shifts the blame on the ongoing strikes votes for the FB group.

“Given that a Public Service Alliance of Canada strike vote is underway, we know that key parts of our CARM team may be in a legal strike position in the days and weeks after CARM’s planned launch […]. As such, we are able to partially launch CARM given the circumstances” reads the memo.

Despite what CBSA says, a strike is still very far from being an inevitability. By blaming the strike votes for CARM delays, the Agency’s management reveals once more its profound lack of integrity.

Were CBSA and Treasury Board truly concerned about avoiding a potential strike, they would address our demands for a fair collective agreement by providing our FB members with wage parity, protection from contracting out, access to telework, and stronger job security. They would introduce equitable retirement after 25 years of service for CBSA personnel without delay.

This, unlike CARM, is easy to implement.

However, instead of doing what’s right, CBSA would rather mislead the Canadian public about the reasons behind CARM’s failure to launch.

The employer seems keen on pretending that a strike is inevitable. In light of this, CIU will be consulting with legal counsel at PSAC to determine whether the Agency’s statement constitute bad faith bargaining. We will be sure to inform the membership should we need to move forward with further action.

The fight for equitable retirement benefits for FB members

PSAC and the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) have been advocating for over a decade for equitable retirement benefits for CBSA law enforcement personnel working at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). In the last round of bargaining, FB members won a commitment from Treasury Board to support this – it’s time the government follows through.

Almost all law enforcement and public safety workers — both provincially and municipally — receive “25 and out” early retirement benefits, with very few exceptions. This includes firefighters, air traffic controllers, RCMP constables, operational employees of the Correctional Service of Canada, and more.

Allowing CBSA law enforcement officers to access the same early retirement benefits would allow our members to retire with dignity after 25 years of service, without any penalties.

CBSA law enforcement personnel work in demanding and physically challenging roles, and face similar physical demands and risks, yet are not afforded the same retirement benefits as their counterparts in other law enforcement agencies.

Instead, many older employees are given limited duties as they near retirement, as firearm and use of force certification become more difficult.

Without the prospect of fair retirement benefits, it can be challenging for CBSA to attract and retain talented workers at a time when the agency is already short-staffed.

It’s time the Treasury Board did the right thing and implemented pension reform.

Providing equitable and early retirement benefits will not only improve the overall well-being and job satisfaction of PSAC-CIU members working at CBSA, but also ensure a sustainable workforce by improving recruitment and retention.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

PSAC statement on federal budget 2024

As Canadians grapple with an affordability crisis, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) welcomes strong support for those most impacted – especially young workers – with major investments in housing, post-secondary education, and a National Food Plan for students.

“We’re pleased to see measures in the budget that will support the important work of more than 34,000 PSAC members working in the post-secondary sector,” said Chris Aylward, PSAC national president. “But as Canadians continue to struggle to make ends meet, we need to put workers and their families first by supporting strong, stable public services when they need them most.”

However, PSAC is concerned about the plan to cut 5,000 federal public service jobs through attrition. When the $15 billion in spending cuts were announced last year, Treasury Board President Anita Anand promised Canadians public service workers wouldn’t be asked to do more with less and that there would be no job losses.

“The public service is only now recovering from the deep cuts of the Harper era, and as our population grows, we need to continue investing in public services to meet the growing needs of Canadians,” said Aylward. “Investing in public services is the best way to avoid long wait times for Canadians at airports and at the border, for passport renewals and employment insurance applications.”

As the pandemic proved, strong public services are critical to see us through difficult times, and Canada needs to continue to build on that investment to be ready for the next crisis. A strong federal public service anchors Canada’s middle class and helps our economy weather the impacts of inflation.

No commitment to equitable retirement

As more than 9,000 Canada Border Services Agency workers take strike votes across the country, PSAC is disappointed that the commitment to provide CBSA law enforcement personnel and firefighters at the Department of National Defence with equitable retirement benefits has gone unfulfilled.

PSAC would also like to have seen more investment to address the ongoing Phoenix pay disaster, strengthening Canada’s Employment Insurance system and stronger tax fairness policies to make large corporations and the wealthiest Canadians pay their fair share.

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

FB bargaining: Team makes presentation to Public Interest Commission hearing — Download our brief

The FB bargaining team presented PSAC’s arguments for fair wages that are aligned with other law enforcement agencies across the country, stronger job security, access to telework, new protections for our jobs and equitable retirement at the first of two Public Interest Commission hearing dates April 10.

The team also made the case that there are serious problems with harassment, staffing, and recruitment and retention issues at CBSA that need to be addressed.

Next steps

The employer will present their case to the commission at the next meeting, scheduled for April 22.  The PIC board will then provide a non-binding recommendation based on the hearings.  While the legislation provides for the PIC to issue its recommendation within 30 days of the hearing, the chair may extend that timeline.

Strike vote April 10 to May 15

Our bargaining team is determined to reach a fair contract, one that protects our hard-fought gains and provides new rights and protections for over 9,000 members in the FB group. We deserve to be treated with respect.

PSAC and CIU are conducting a nationwide strike vote for the FB group April 10 to May 15, ramping up the pressure on CBSA in advance of the release of the PIC report.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.