A decision by the Canadian government to designate thousands more employees of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) as essential is an attempt to take away the employees’ right to strike, according to the union representing them.
“Many of these workers have never been essential but they are throwing them in to get to their 80 per cent, to weaken our position and lose our right to strike,” said Jean-Pierre Fortin, president of the Customs and Immigration Union, which is part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).
The federal government is preparing for the next round of negotiations with federal public unions.
According to PSAC, the government has added more than 1,000 positions, including 400 working in trade matters, positions the Canada Border Services Agency has never considered essential to the safety and security of Canadians.
PSAC is now asking the Federal Court to rescind the new essential services agreement given to the Customs and Immigration Union.
More information:
Ottawa Citizen/Kathryn May – Union taking fight over essential workers to court – here
Customs and Immigration Union website – www.ciu-sdi.ca
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