“Workers at CBSA have waited long enough,” PSAC national president Chris Aylward said in an April 3 news release. “Our members have been without a collective agreement since 2022.”
PSAC accused the CBSA of refusing to budge on key issues, such as wage parity with other law enforcement agencies, better job security, access to telework and protections from contracting out. The PSAC release also noted that the union is expecting the government to deliver on an earlier promise to provide CBSA law enforcement personnel with the same early retirement benefits as other law enforcement and public safety workers. Such an arrangement would allow such workers to retire after a minimum of 25 years of service.
“Law enforcement personnel at CBSA deserve the same treatment and retirement benefits as their counterparts in other law enforcement agencies,” CIU national president Mark Weber said in the release.
As its strike votes are underway, PSAC and the CIU said, they will join CBSA in hearings this month before the Public Interest Commission, a process undertaken by the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board when federal contract talks reach an impasse. The commission will issue non-binding recommendations to reach an agreement.
In an April 5 news release, the federal government said it is disappointed in PSAC’s decision to call a strike vote for border services workers, who have the public sector group classification of FB.
“The government’s position is clear,” said the release. “It is committed to reaching an agreement with PSAC as quickly as possible that is fair to FB group employees and reasonable for Canadians.
“In the interest of reaching an agreement for their members at the earliest opportunity,” it added, “we call on PSAC to commit to the collective bargaining process, including the PIC process.”
The government said its latest offer to PSAC for the FB group is consistent with recent agreements with 17 bargaining units covering 80 per cent of unionized workers in the federal public service.
The government release said members of the FB group are mainly involved in the “planning, development, delivery or management of the inspection and control of people and goods entering Canada.”
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