To support your FB bargaining team members, we encourage you to download and use your team’s virtual background for all your work meetings and swap out your social media profile picture.
I support my bargaining team
I’m voting yes to strike
This article was first posted on the PSAC website.
Our members at Canada Border Services Agency have waited long enough. You’ve been without a collective agreement since 2022 as you’ve seen your wages stall and the cost of living rise. Yet CBSA still isn’t prepared to negotiate an agreement that protects our members, and continues to demand concessions at the bargaining table.
That’s why PSAC and CIU will be conducting a nationwide strike vote for the FB group April 10 to May 15, ramping up the pressure on CBSA in advance of our Public Interest Commission (PIC) hearings later this month.
Our FB bargaining team is committed to reaching a fair contract that protects our hard-fought gains in previous rounds of bargaining and provides new rights and protections for our more than 9,000 PSAC-CIU members. Over the past two years of negotiations, our team has fought for wage parity with the broader law enforcement community, stronger job security, access to telework, and protections around contracting out – but CBSA management continues to insist on concessions.
While strike votes are underway, Public Interest Commission hearings will take place April 10 and 22 with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board, where PSAC and CBSA will outline our positions on the outstanding issues, and the PIC will issue a report with non-binding recommendations for reaching a settlement.
If you vote in favour of a strike mandate, PSAC will be in a legal strike position seven days after the PIC releases its recommendations.
We saw what we could achieve last round when we came together – by bringing international borders to a standstill August 6, 2021 through work-to-rule action, we secured important gains for our members, without concessions.
We strongly urge you to vote in favour of a strike mandate to once again show CBSA management that we are prepared to take job action to reach a fair deal at the bargaining table.
We’ve also made it clear that if this government is serious about achieving a new collective agreement, Treasury Board President Anita Anand must honour the commitment made during the last round of bargaining and make equitable 25-and-out retirement a reality for FB members. Law enforcement personnel at CBSA deserve the same treatment and retirement benefits as their counterparts in other law enforcement agencies.
To give you as many opportunities as possible to participate in the vote, we’ll be holding strike sessions virtually with national sessions open to everyone.
Your voting credentials will be sent to your personal, non-work email or by mail to your home address if we don’t have a personal email on file. You will need these credentials to register for a strike vote session.
If you haven’t received your voting credentials by email or regular mail, you may need to update your contact information before you can register to vote.
In Solidarity,
Chris Aylward
PSAC national president
Mark Weber
CIU national president
This article was first posted on the PSAC website.
Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) who work at Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will be conducting a strike vote across the country starting April 10, 2024.
After almost two years of negotiations, PSAC declared impasse in bargaining in September 2023 after CBSA refused to budge on key issues like wages in line with other law enforcement agencies, better job security, access to telework, and protections from contracting out.
“Workers at CBSA have waited long enough,” said Chris Aylward, PSAC national president. “Our members have been without a collective agreement since 2022. While wages have stalled and the cost of living has risen, CBSA has refused to negotiate an agreement that protects workers and continues to demand concessions at the bargaining table.”
While strike votes are underway, PSAC and CBSA are proceeding to Public Interest Commission (PIC) hearings April 10 and 22 with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.
Following the PIC hearings, the commission will release its non-binding recommendations to reach an agreement. If members vote in favour of a strike mandate, PSAC will be in a legal strike position seven days after the board releases its report.
Workers at CBSA are also still waiting for the government to make good on a pledge to provide CBSA law enforcement personnel with the same retirement benefits – 25 and out –as other law enforcement and public safety workers.
“If the government is serious about achieving a new collective agreement, Anita Anand, President of Treasury Board, must also honour the commitment made during the last round of bargaining and make equitable retirement a reality for our members,” said Mark Weber, CIU national president. “Law enforcement personnel at CBSA deserve the same treatment and retirement benefits as their counterparts in other law enforcement agencies.”
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is one of Canada’s largest unions, representing nearly 230,000 workers in every province and territory in Canada, including more than 120,000 federal public service workers employed by Treasury Board and another 45,000 working for federal government agencies, including Canada Border Services Agency.
This article was first posted on the PSAC website.
While bargaining on behalf of members in the FB group moves forward and preparations for another round of bargaining with Treasury Board get underway for PA, TC, SV and EB units, PSAC and CIU are surveying members working at CBSA.
All members working at the Agency are encouraged to fill in this brief survey. Your answers will help guide our work on behalf of the entire PSAC-CIU membership and assist our FB bargaining team to secure a fair collective agreement.
In November 2022, Treasury Board announced the creation of a task force mandated to review the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. This Act establishes a procedure for disclosure of wrongdoings in the federal public service and outlines protections for the person reporting these issues, often referred to as a whistleblower.
As part of this review, the task force is engaging in a consultation process, including a survey.
Protecting workers who come forward to report a problem is critical to ensuring workplace safety. Therefore, PSAC is inviting all its members to complete a survey about their experiences in the workplace related to reprisals and safety in disclosure. The survey should take between 20 and 30 minutes. The deadline to answer is April 2, 2024.
Previously, PSAC presented recommendations that, if implemented, would provide better protection for whistleblowers, which would increase the likelihood that federal public service workers feel safe against reprisals in reporting wrongdoings.
This article was first posted on the PSAC website.
