Tag Archives: Groupe FB

Union, Employer Setting Dates to Return to the Bargaining Table

On Friday March 9, 2018, our PSAC Negotiator for the FB group was contacted by the Treasury Board and told that the employer has a new mandate. As a result, we are in the process of setting dates to return to the bargaining table during the week of March 19.

Thanks to all of the CIU-PSAC members at CBSA from coast to coast to coast for participating in our ongoing mobilization activities. Updates will be provided as things progress.

FB Bargaining Team Spends Nine Days in Talks with CBSA

Our CIU/PSAC bargaining team for Border Services spent nine days (November 1 to 9) in talks with the CBSA and Treasury Board for a new collective agreement. We reiterated our key issues.

Fair wages: Our proposals seek to achieve wage parity with the broader law enforcement community. We tabled a market adjustment to bring us in line with the RCMP wage grid. The employer’s wage position on the general economic increase is a .75 per year, which will not even keep pace with the rising cost of living.

Retirement reform: We are seeking a commitment from Treasury Board to support the introduction of a retirement regime consistent with other federal law enforcement agencies.

New protections: We need new protections in the context of discipline (PSI and SRI), and against abuse of authority. We also need improved legal indemnification protections. We are demanding contract language to protect against the replacing of officers at land, air and sea port-of-entries with machines. Finally, we are looking for language that protects officers that are unsuccessful in CDT and Firearm Recertification.

Hours of work: Our team is seeking a paid meal period that is on par with other law enforcement agencies, as well as protections against management’s unilateral cancelation of compressed work weeks and telework arrangements. It’s also time for an increase in the shift premium.

Sick leave: We continue to seek improvements to the current sick leave regime. We’ve made some progress over the last session on this issue. The Employer has proposed a Memorandum of Agreement to deal with sick leave, in order to allow for discussion. We have been very clear that any discussion must respect our principles. Our principles with regard to sick leave remain the same – it must be contained in the collective agreement, it must provide for wage replacement, sick leave banks must be preserved and there must be no third party provider.

WFA: So far the government has refused to address our key proposals with regard to the Workforce Adjustment Appendix. Given the stress and turmoil that many PSAC members faced during the four-year period of public sector cuts and layoffs, we want to ensure that WFA operates in a fair, transparent and impartial manner.

Mediation: PSAC has suggested further bargaining with the assistance of a mediator.

For more information concerning FB negotiations, be sure to visit psacunion.ca/fb.

A version of this article was originally published on the PSAC website.

FB Team Spends 7 Days in Contract Talks

Starting Friday June 17, our FB Bargaining Team spent 7 days in negotiations with our employer. Here’s a summary of issues that were discussed during that period:

Pension Commitment: At the outset the Treasury Board indicated its position that collective bargaining is not an appropriate venue for pension reform discussions and that the concerns raised by PSAC and CIU with respect to an early retirement plan should happen elsewhere. Our Team made our union’s position clear – we seek a written commitment from both Treasury Board and the CBSA supporting the introduction of a retirement plan that is consistent with what is in place at other law enforcement agencies.

Wages: We proposed a market adjustment to take effect the first day of our contract that would peg the FB wage scale to that of an RCMP Constable 1st Class. We have also tabled a paid meal period, consistent with standards common in the broader law enforcement community.

Hours of Work – Shift Work and Compressed Work Weeks: This past week, we made proposals to enhance rights and protections for shift workers, including the elimination of potential ‘6 and 2’ schedules being implemented by management. We are also seeking fairer rules with respect to employees having the opportunity to relocate to different ports. With respect to day workers, we have proposed protections against management unilaterally revoking compressed work weeks.

Increased Protections: We tabled proposals to enhance protections in our collective agreement for front-line officers in the context of firearm recertification and control defence tactics training. We also re-iterated the importance of new protections against CBSA management in the context of discipline.

Workforce Adjustment: We discussed the questions raised by the employer on our proposed changes to the Workforce Adjustment Appendix and continue to strive to make improvements. We reiterated our position against the contracting out of work. Many unions have identified this issue as a major concern in this round of bargaining.

Sick Leave: Our position on the employer’s Short Term Disability Plan remains unchanged but we continue to seek either a renewal or improvements to the current sick leave regime.

We indicated to management that we are expecting answers from them on key issues that we’ve raised in this round of bargaining. For more information concerning FB negotiations and our next scheduled bargaining dates, be sure visit the FB Group bargaining section on the PSAC website.

Download the PDF version of this update (bilingual document).