In a victory for members at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) who have gone above and beyond to ensure food safety during this pandemic, PSAC has reached a tentative agreement that provides fair wages, no concessions, and improved working conditions. 

In addition to these successful talks, members at CFIA will also be awarded a Phoenix damages settlement to compensate for the pain and suffering caused by the broken pay system. Please read the following update which provides greater detail on the general Phoenix compensation portion of the settlement, as well as the expansion of the claims process for out-of-pocket expenses and for those who suffered major losses because of Phoenix. 

Wage settlement  

The PSAC bargaining team successfully secured fair wage increases averaging at 2.11% per year. 

• In addition, shift premiums for employees working between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. will increase by 12.5% (from $2.00/hour to $2.25/hour).

Wage adjustments 

Members in the following groups and sub-groups will receive wage adjustments to catch them up to their counterparts in the core public administration. Adjustments will be applied in Year 3 of the collective agreement:

• General Labour (GL) 

  • Electrical Installing and Maintaining (EIM):  5% 

  • Machinery Maintaining (MAM): 1.5% 

  • Manipulating (MAN): 1.5% 

  • Pipefitting (PIP): 1% 

• Heating, Power and Stationary Plant Operation (HP): 11.5% 

• Social Science Support (SI):  2.47% 

• Financial Management (FI): Harmonization of step increments and 0.15% for FI-04 level employees 

Lump sums and retention allowances 

• A one-time payment of $500 in recognition of the extended collective agreement implementation deadline and an additional $50 for every subsequent 90-day delay 

• Employees working at the EG-02, EG-03, or EG-05 occupational group and level in a slaughterhouse facility will receive a one-time lump sum payment of $250

• Extension of Retention Allowance for CFIA Compensation Advisors to CR-05 and AS-04 level employees

• Improved retention allowance for CR-05, AS-01, AS-02, AS-03 or AS-04 level CFIA Compensation Advisors working in pay pods under the banner of the Public Service and Procurement Canada Pay Centre (PSPC) to $3,500 per year

Other improvements 

• Several leave improvements including for a person who stands in place of a relative for: 

  • Leave without pay for the care of the family 

  • Bereavement leave 

  • Leave with pay for family-related responsibilities 

• Increase in maternity related reassignment or leave qualification from 52 to 78 weeks following the birth of a child 

• Employees who nurse can now request unpaid breaks to nurse or express milk 

• Improvements to travel time to pay for up to five hours compensation for any stop-overs 

• An increase in meal allowance for overtime from $10 to $12 

• Two-year extension of the Joint Learning Pilot Program 

• New Memorandum of Understanding on mental health in the workplace to continue the joint work on the implementation and monitoring of CFIA’s strategy on mental health

• New Memorandum of Understanding to explore the concrete issues at the CFIA relating to child care 

• Ten days of paid domestic violence leave 

• Improvements to parental leave pay 

  • Updated language to match the new legislation including a new extended leave option and the sharing of parental leave 

  • Expanded supplementary allowance for every week an employee is on extended or shared parental leave 

  • Additional weeks for parents covered under the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan, when both parents work in the public service

  • Better language on return to work following a maternity or parental leave, giving more flexibility to parents who wish to change positions within the federal public service

• Updated and improved language to match the new legislation on Compassionate Care and Caregiving Leave

• Better language to allow the use of employer facilities for union activities

• In the event of workforce adjustment (employee transition), the education allowance has increased to $17,000

• Deletion of Memorandum of Understanding on Supporting Employee Wellness. As a result, sick leave will remain untouched

Full text and next steps 

We will share the final text and full details of the tentative agreement as soon as it becomes available. Shortly thereafter, members at CFIA will be invited to participate in online ratification votes. Details about the votes will be shared as soon as possible. 

Our bargaining team unanimously recommends the ratification of the tentative agreement.  

To ensure that you receive all updates and can participate in the ratification process, please ensure that you have either updated your contact information on PSAC’s member portal, or that you create an account if you have not done so already. 

 

PSAC at CFIA : Bargaining for our future!

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