PSAC Submits Notice to Bargain to Treasury Board for FB Bargaining
Unit Today.
Our contract with Treasury Board expires in four months, and today – February 21st – is the
earliest possible date under the law that we can serve notice to commence negotiations.
Accordingly, our union this morning provided Treasury Board with a notice to commence
negotiations. Almost one-hundred PSAC members in the FB bargaining unit from across
the country met last month in Ottawa to discuss our bargaining priorities for this round of
negotiations. Our bargaining team is in place. We have prepared a package of demands.
We are ready.
We made progress in the last round of bargaining in a number of critical areas. But there is
much work to do. There are on-going scheduling issues that need to be addressed, from
ensuring that management bargains in good faith when we negotiate work schedules, to
guaranteeing that everyone’s seniority is appropriately recognized, to having telework
available to non-uniformed personnel. We need protections in place in the context of the
arming initiative. And we want a commitment from the government that there be an early
retirement plan for workers in the FB bargaining unit that is in line with other federal
enforcement workers.
We work hard. We ensure that Canada’s borders are secure. We deserve nothing
less.
In the coming days our team will be contacting Treasury Board’s Negotiator to set dates to
commence bargaining. Once we have dates confirmed we will be sure to update. Also,
once we have exchanged proposals with management we will be posting both our
proposals and those of management on the PSAC website at www.psac.com.

PSAC Members at CBSA
United for a Fair Workplace

PSAC Flyer FB Lets Get Ready To Bargain

Please read the two links below.  Then talk to your MP’s and encourage them to support the Peace Officer Scholarship for families of fallen federal peace officers.  This may encourage the government to act on this motion which recently passed the Senate.

Runciman – Peace Officer Scholarship

Runciman Response – Peace Officer Scholarship

• All reports specified by the Agenda to follow in a next few weeks must be completed and emailed to me at valentine@sasktel.net.  I will distribute these reports via email before the meeting to the Executive and Stewards.
• The reports are to be read prior to the meeting as they will not be read out at the meeting so that we can immediately go into discussions to save time.  Nil reports are required.  A deadline will be set for the reports when the Agenda is distributed.
• Please forward all Agenda items to Brea at saskatchewan@ciu-sdi.ca or myself at the above email address before February 1.
• PSAC educational classes will follow the meeting. If you are attending these classes, register with PSAC before the deadline date of February 11 as per the website below:  http://prairies.psac.com/prairies/regina/education.shtml

The AGM is tentatively scheduled for Saturday evening starting at 6:00 pm in the PSAC office.  It will be a supper meeting and a poster will be forwarded to the membership in early February, 2011.  Thanks, everyone.

RWC Jan 18th, 2011

Last Updated: December 27, 2010 3:08am

Email StoryPrintSize A A AReport Typo.MONTREAL — The union representing customs agents says the new decision by the Canada Border Services Agency to curtail its involvement in assisting other police forces across the country raises safety issues.

 The CSBA announced the move on Dec. 24, citing a budget crunch and concerns over “gaps in officers’ authorities and protections.” 

But a vice president for the Customs and Immigration Union said that means fewer raids, fewer seizures and less safety.

 “There will be an immediate impact on security,” Jean-Pierre Fortin said Sunday.

 Front-line raids with CBSA officers and police forces have been promoted as an effective way to cut down on the illegal smuggling of goods and people across the border.

“We have an expertise that other police forces don’t relating to terrorism, immigration, importing goods,” Fortin said. “That’s why they come to us and ask for assistance.”

Still, border agents and their bosses have been at loggerheads for years over whether they should be armed on joint raids. The CSBA is sticking to a 2007 decision to refuse the request to carry guns.

 Fortin maintains being armed “means we can offer a direct and timely assistance during a police intervention.”

 But Pierre Sabourin, CBSA vice president of operations, said in a statement Sunday the agency is will continue collaboration with outside forces if they’re in line with the agency’s mandate.

 “The CBSA will no longer be participating in those activities that fall outside of CBSA’s mandate where we provide general assistance to law enforcement and police agencies in instances where it is not a designated Joint Force Operation,” he said. 

Fortin calls the answer bureaucratic jargon, noting border agents take part in police raids across the country on a regular basis – and have been for years. The union VP said those agents will now be stuck in a backroom role gathering intelligence.

 “When it comes times to work the information, we’re not there,” he said.

 The Tories are currently pushing ahead with a 10-year, $785-million plan to arm 4,800 border guards at land and marine crossings by 2016. So far, roughly 1,400 officers have been trained and armed. 

Fortin calls it a “philosophy shift” that’s leaving CBSA management behind.

 “We are a law and order operation just like other police forces,” he said. “We see a flagrant resistance to this from the CBSA.”

 Several joint operations

Recent joint operations between CSBA and other police forces across Canada :

 - Toronto , Ont., Dec. 23, 2010 – The RCMP and CBSA seize $310,000 in counterfeit U.S. currency at the Pearson International Airport . 

- Montreal , Que., Dec. 15, 2010 – Montreal police, with the CBSA and the RCMP, bust an international car theft ring and recover some $3 million in stolen goods.

 - Ottawa , Ont., Dec. 3, 2010 – Ottawa police, the CBSA and the RCMP arrest and charge a woman for the smuggling, distribution and sale of counterfeit jewellery and handbags. 

- Richmond , B.C., Nov. 24, 2010 – The RCMP and the CBSA seize over 6,000 kilograms of chemicals used to manufacture ecstasy and methamphetamines.

 - Vancouver , B.C. Oct. 12, 2010 – The RCMP and the CBSA seize over 100 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a 2,300 kilogram fruit grinding machine.

PSAC members who are in the SV, PA and EB bargaining units:

IT’S TIME TO VOTE

PSAC has reached tentative agreements with Treasury Board covering three bargaining units:  SV, PA and EB. 

These agreements will only take effect if they are ratified.  Every PSAC member covered by these agreements has a right to cast a vote in the ratification process. 

Ratification meetings (including information sessions) will take place across the country from October 20th to November 30th.  The PSAC’s internal rules state that members must make an informed choice, which means participating in an information session prior to the vote.

Below is a list of the ratification meetings scheduled to date.  Please check this list frequently as new meeting dates, times and places will be added.

http://prairies.psac.com/

The FB and TC national bargaining conferences are now confirmed for January 2011 in Ottawa ; this will also confirm that none of the regional conferences will be held and that all who had been selected for the regional conferences will be invited to attend the national conference. Please follow the below link which will bring you to the PSAC web page for more details.

Meeting minutes from some recent LMCs dating back to November 2008.

RLMCC November 2008

RLMCC April 2009

RLMCC June 2009

RLMCC October 2009

RLMCC Dec 2009

RLMCC March 2010

RLMCC June 2010