Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

At 1:30 this morning, after 18 months of negotiations including 4 days of roundthe-clock bargaining starting last Thursday, and with the threat of legislation looming, our FB Bargaining Team reached a Tentative Agreement with Treasury Board/CBSA for a first contract. The Agreement addresses core goals set by our Bargaining Team at the outset of negotiations. Our Bargaining Team unanimously recommends ratification of our new agreement.

SUMMARY OF TENTATIVE AGREEMENT

Duration of Agreement

1. The agreement is a four-year collective agreement with an expiration date of June 20, 2011.

Wages

1. The Agreement features a new FB wage grid. The grid includes significant acrossthe-board increases, including a minimum 19.5 % wage increase for Border Services Officers over the life of the agreement. For a complete copy of the new FB wage grid for all classifications and accompanying Pay Notes, go to www.ciu-sdi.ca. With the new wage grid, Union members in the FB bargaining unit achieve wage parity with (and in some cases exceed) other enforcement workers in the core federal public service.
2. The PSAC achieved a contractual commitment from Treasury Board to engage in classification reform. The commitment is to be contained in the PA collective agreement but will apply to other units as well.

Arming Initiative

Our new Agreement states that:

1. Only volunteers and employees hired with firearm training as a condition of employment shall be selected for firearm training minimally through February 2011.
2. Volunteer employees that are unsuccessful in passing the firearm training shall be subject to the same protections contained in the Job Security clause of our Collective Agreement through February 2011.
3. Beginning in the fall of 2009, a joint Union-Management committee to discuss firearm trainee selection and placement strategy for post February 2011.

Hours of Work – VSSA’s – Seniority Recognition

Our Agreement contains a new Variable Shift Scheduling Arrangement appendix. The appendix includes:

1. Specific timelines related to VSSA talks. The timelines include the employer providing critical information for VSSA negotiations within 5 days of either party providing notice to negotiate a new VSSA.
2. An understanding that the neither party can implement a new scheduling arrangement (this includes a “six-and-two” schedule) while VSSA talks are ongoing.
3. Dispute resolution procedures that include the involvement of regional or national representatives from both parties should impasse be reached at the local level, and a voting mechanism should final impasse be reached.
4. As with our previous collective agreement, VSSA’s shall continue to be mutually agreed-upon between Union and management at the local level.
5. Once a new VSSA has been negotiated, management must canvass all employees for volunteers for all lines before implementation. In the event that more than one employee wishes to work a certain line, seniority will be the determining factor.
6. In the event a line becomes vacant over the life of a VSSA, the employer must canvass all employees covered by the VSSA for volunteers. In the event that more than one employee volunteers, seniority will be the determining factor.
7. With respect to vacation scheduling, should there be excessive vacation requests for a specific period, seniority shall be the determining factor.

Alternative Working Arrangements

With respect to workers in regional Trade and Compliance divisions, the parties have agreed create a Joint Committee to meet within 120 days of settlement to discuss the feasibility of the application of the Treasury Board Telework Policy in Trade and Compliance. Our team clearly indicated the importance of Flexible Working Arrangements and the ability to work off-site (as defined in the Telework Policy) for our members in Trade and Compliance and look forward to getting the Joint Committee underway. More information regarding the Telework policy and what it means for Trade and Compliance workers will be provided by Union representatives to Union members in these divisions in the coming weeks and months.
Additional Gains

There are also other improvements, including improvements to:

• the definition of family
• bereavement and compassionate care leave,
• Funding for the Joint Learning Program,
• maternity and parental leave,
• grievance language.

Also of critical importance in difficult economic times, A strengthened Workforce Adjustment Directive that requires the government to review the use of contractors and consultants in order to avoid lay-offs was achieved. There are no concessions in this collective agreement.

Our new Agreement is the product of the efforts of workers determined to have a real voice in our working conditions, fairness in wages and to make CBSA a better place to work.

For more information about our new contract and ratification contact a member of our National Bargaining Team, your Branch President or Shop Steward. Also be sure to check www.psac-afpc.org for regular updates about coming ratification votes.

PSAC at CBSA Fighting for Quality Public Services