Early Retirement Raised by Our Team at Bargaining Table
Jul 03, 2011 | 0 Comments
June 2011Early Retirement Raised by OurTeam at Bargaining TablePSAC Bargaining Team continues to push for changes to retirementplan, proposes summer bargaining dates.Our FB bargaining team met with Treasury Board and CBSA representatives inOttawa the week of June 20 to continue negotiations for a new contract. Over thecourse of the week the parties discussed our demands related to working alone,leave for dental and medical appointments, increase in shift premium, and pensionreform.With respect to pension reform, we re-iterated to CBSA/Treasury Board that we wanta written commitment from the employer guaranteeing CBSA and Treasury Board’ssupport for an amendment to the Superannuation Act to provide for a “twenty-fiveand out” retirement plan for FB workers, similar to what is in place for otherenforcement workers in the federal public sector. To date we have made littleprogress on this or any of the other issues being raised at the table. The partiesagreed to discuss hours of work and scheduling issues at our next session. Weproposed dates for August. The employer refused, stating that they cannotassemble their team in August. Our next meeting is a four-day session scheduled for early September.Labour Board forces CBSA to disclose information in EssentialServices Agreement proceedingsUnder the law, we cannot stage a strike until we have an essential servicesagreement (ESA) in place with CBSA/Treasury Board. The law changed a fewyears ago, and since then we have been attempting to negotiate an ESA with CBSA.Last year the Labour Board ruled against CBSA by stating that, in the event of astrike, the assessing and collecting of taxes, fees and fines are not essential to thesafety and security of Canadians, meaning that none of these duties would beperformed by BSO’s in the event of a strike. This ruling forced CBSA to provide newproposals. Recently CBSA did so. The new proposals provided by managementare, in our opinion, a joke at best. We have again filed a complaint with the Board.The Board has given CBSA until July 20th to fully disclose the rationale it used for itslatest proposal. We will be providing further ESA information this summer.We’ll be sure to update as things progress. If you have any questions speak with amember of our team, a member of your Branch Executive, or go to the PSAC website atwww.psac.com for a copy of our demands.PSAC Members at CBSAUnited for a Fair Workplace