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PSAC’s bargaining team representing members at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) held a second bargaining session for a new collective agreement between March 26 and 28.
The union presented two additional proposals that were identified with placeholders in the original proposal package exchanged at the February talks: improvements to hours of work and overtime (Articles 24 and 27) and better protections against sexual harassment and workplace violence (Article 19).
The team also held constructive discussions on two important initiatives undertaken jointly by PSAC and CFIA:
- A Joint Learning Program (JLP) pilot project, agreed to during the last bargaining round, that was rolled out in February in Ottawa, with more workshops set for this summer and fall in other cities. Both parties are working together to ensure a successful pilot.
- A workplace mental health strategy for the 2019-2022 period, also agreed to during the last bargaining round. PSAC will work with CFIA to help ensure the strategy’s successful implementation across the Agency.
While the above items benefited from positive discussions, the union bargaining team is disappointed that CFIA has not tabled new language to fill in placeholders in the employer proposal package presented in February. That proposal package contains 24 placeholders, and they all remain devoid of content.
PSAC remains committed to negotiating improvements to working conditions and reaching a tentative agreement quickly. However, productive discussions will be hard to achieve unless CFIA brings concrete proposals to the bargaining table.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for May 14 to 16.
Please continue to support your bargaining team by sending messages of support, pictures, etc., to team members (see contact details below). And stay tuned for more information on site visits by the negotiator and the respective regional bargaining team member.
PSAC at CFIA: Together we are stronger!
Atlantic: Jan Pennington
Québec: Audrey St-Germain
National Capital Region: Marlene O’Neil
Ontario: Robert MacDonald
Manitoba: Andrew Neufeld
Saskatchewan: Karen Zoller
Alberta: Dorothy McRae
British Columbia: Terri Lee
Negotiator: Hassan Husseini
Research Officer: Silja Freitag
