Starting Friday June 17, our bargaining team spent seven days in negotiations with our employer. At the outset, the Treasury Board team said that that collective bargaining is not an appropriate venue for pension reform and early retirement discussions and that concerns raised by PSAC and CIU 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 on 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

We made proposals to enhance rights and protections for shift workers, including the elimination of potential ‘6 and 2’ schedules implemented by management. We are also seeking fairer rules for employees to have 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 for front-line officers

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 have raised in this round of bargaining. Keep watching the PSAC website for updates on these issues and dates for the next round of bargaining.