June 7, 2007

PSAC/CFIA Bargaining Unit

The PSAC Bargaining Team met face-to-face with the CFIA Management Team for the first time on May 28 and 29th in Ottawa.

The parties discussed the procedures that would be followed during this round of negotiations and they explored the changes to the collective agreement made necessary by the new Public Service Labour Relation Act, such as the grievance procedure and leaves for union business. It is expected that the final language for those issues will be agreed upon soon.

The second series of meetings with CFIA representatives will be held during the week of June 18th.

Your team is geared up for these negotiations and working hard at being well prepared for their meeting with the Agency. But remember – their success at the bargaining table depends on your strong support.

Sign up for Bargaining INFO bulletins

You can sign up now on the PSAC web site to automatically receive Bargaining INFO bulletins as they are issued. http://www.psac.com/bargaining/email_index-e.shtml

Wanted:
Picket line captains at CFIA

Your negotiating team is working hard to reach a settlement with the CFIA and progress is being made. However, if we can't reach a settlement, we need to be ready to take action up to and including a strike.

If we have to take strike action, it helps to be well prepared. That means setting up a strike structure. This structure can be used to mobilize members to take actions in support of negotiations, not just strike action.

One of the first things we need to do is recruit picket captains. Picket captains play an important role during a strike. They make sure the members are on the picket lines where and when they should be, coordinate picket line activities, distribute information to the members and report any significant events to the strike coordinators. On occasion, they liaise with police officers and employer representatives.

Being a picket captain is a good opportunity for you to be involved in your union and to support your co-workers. But, we don't expect you to take on this role without training. If you're interested in being a picket captain, or want more information about what's involved, contact your nearest PSAC regional office.

At this time, we are cautiously optimistic of the outcome of the negotiations. The first two days of meetings have been productive and we hope to continue in that direction. However we haven't reached an agreement yet and we need to make sure that we're ready for any and all possibilities.

If we can't reach a negotiated settlement with CFIA, we will be looking at ways to put pressure on the employer in order to achieve some significant results at the bargaining table.

It's your contract – we need you to be involved.

In solidarity,
Your PSAC negotiating team

 For printable version.