A tentative agreement with Canada Border Services Agency workers gives them the biggest wage hikes in Canadian law enforcement, following almost two years without a contract.The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) have reached tentative agreements with Treasury Board and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for over 9,000 members who have been without a contract for almost two years.The four-year agreement spanning June 2022 to June 2026 includes a total compounded wage increase of 15.73%. This exceeds recent wage increases provided in other Canadian law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP. The agreement enhances protections relative to technological changes, and better provisions for shift scheduling and leave. The agreement, reached after nine days of around-the-clock negotiations, avoids potential job action at Canada’s borders. The bargaining team has unanimously recommended a yes vote to members.See full details of tentative agreement The four-year agreement will expire on June 20, 2026 and includes the following increases.Effective June 21, 2022 – 3.5% + 1.25% for a total compounded increase of 4.8%Effective June 21, 2023 – 3% + 2.8% for a total compounded increase of 5.9%Effective June 21, 2024 – 2% + 0.25% for a total compounded increase of 2.255%Effective June 21, 2025 – 2%PSAC secured a pensionable $2,500 one-time lump sum payment for all employees in the bargaining unit upon the date of signing. It also gained a a 12.5% increase in shift and weekend premium — from $2.00 to $2.25 an hour. These shift and weekend premiums are now the highest in federal law enforcement, and greatly exceed peers such as the OPP and Sûreté du Québec.Employees will enjoy more generous leave. They will now be able to access four weeks of vacation leave after seven years of employment instead of eight years of employment. Workers who travel nights can get an additional day of leave for every 20 nights they travel instead of every 40. Access to family-related responsibility and bereavement leave will also expand. Those missing work to mourn the loss of aunts or uncles will get a day of bereavement pay.AlsoMembers in Intelligence, Investigations and Inland Enforcement will be reimbursed up to $500 a year for the purchase of plain clothes.A new annual Hearings Officer allowance of $500.A new pensionable, annual $1000 allowance for non-uniform employees.The employer must now reimburse employees for the cost of medical certificates up to $35.New language in the agreement ensures employees have access to union representation in all disciplinary, administrative and investigative meetings conducted by CBSA management – including Professional Standards Investigations. The agreement also contains new language that ensures an appropriate effort will be made to conduct investigations within a reasonable amount of time. Lengthy, drawn-out investigations have been a longstanding issue for FB members at CBSA.Managers will now assess remote work requests individually, not by group, and provide written responses that will allow members and PSAC to hold the employer accountable to equitable and fair decision-making on remote work. That means employee rights around remote work arrangements will be protected through a grievance process, and grievances that are not settled prior to the final step of the grievance process can be referred to a new joint union-management panel for review in each department to address issues related to the employer’s application of the remote work directive in the workplace. In addition to the letter signed between PSAC and Treasury Board, the President of CBSA has, in tandem with negotiations, committed in writing to establish a national joint CIU-CBSA committee to engage in consultation concerning the hybrid work model at CBSA. The committee has committed to meet immediately.PSAC and Treasury Board have also agreed to create a joint committee to review and update the telework policy for the government last updated in 2020 – before the pandemic began.
A tentative agreement with Canada Border Services Agency workers gives them the biggest wage hikes in Canadian law enforcement, following almost two years without a contract.The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) have reached tentative agreements with Treasury Board and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for over 9,000 members who have been without a contract for almost two years.The four-year agreement spanning June 2022 to June 2026 includes a total compounded wage increase of 15.73%. This exceeds recent wage increases provided in other Canadian law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP. The agreement enhances protections relative to technological changes, and better provisions for shift scheduling and leave. The agreement, reached after nine days of around-the-clock negotiations, avoids potential job action at Canada’s borders. The bargaining team has unanimously recommended a yes vote to members.See full details of tentative agreement The four-year agreement will expire on June 20, 2026 and includes the following increases.Effective June 21, 2022 – 3.5% + 1.25% for a total compounded increase of 4.8%Effective June 21, 2023 – 3% + 2.8% for a total compounded increase of 5.9%Effective June 21, 2024 – 2% + 0.25% for a total compounded increase of 2.255%Effective June 21, 2025 – 2%PSAC secured a pensionable $2,500 one-time lump sum payment for all employees in the bargaining unit upon the date of signing. It also gained a a 12.5% increase in shift and weekend premium — from $2.00 to $2.25 an hour. These shift and weekend premiums are now the highest in federal law enforcement, and greatly exceed peers such as the OPP and Sûreté du Québec.Employees will enjoy more generous leave. They will now be able to access four weeks of vacation leave after seven years of employment instead of eight years of employment. Workers who travel nights can get an additional day of leave for every 20 nights they travel instead of every 40. Access to family-related responsibility and bereavement leave will also expand. Those missing work to mourn the loss of aunts or uncles will get a day of bereavement pay.AlsoMembers in Intelligence, Investigations and Inland Enforcement will be reimbursed up to $500 a year for the purchase of plain clothes.A new annual Hearings Officer allowance of $500.A new pensionable, annual $1000 allowance for non-uniform employees.The employer must now reimburse employees for the cost of medical certificates up to $35.New language in the agreement ensures employees have access to union representation in all disciplinary, administrative and investigative meetings conducted by CBSA management – including Professional Standards Investigations. The agreement also contains new language that ensures an appropriate effort will be made to conduct investigations within a reasonable amount of time. Lengthy, drawn-out investigations have been a longstanding issue for FB members at CBSA.Managers will now assess remote work requests individually, not by group, and provide written responses that will allow members and PSAC to hold the employer accountable to equitable and fair decision-making on remote work. That means employee rights around remote work arrangements will be protected through a grievance process, and grievances that are not settled prior to the final step of the grievance process can be referred to a new joint union-management panel for review in each department to address issues related to the employer’s application of the remote work directive in the workplace. In addition to the letter signed between PSAC and Treasury Board, the President of CBSA has, in tandem with negotiations, committed in writing to establish a national joint CIU-CBSA committee to engage in consultation concerning the hybrid work model at CBSA. The committee has committed to meet immediately.PSAC and Treasury Board have also agreed to create a joint committee to review and update the telework policy for the government last updated in 2020 – before the pandemic began.
