Media Advisory: Where is the love? Border Services Officers rally at Pacific Highway border crossing.

Vancouver – Members of the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) are rallying on Valentine’s Day, calling on the government to show Border Services Officers some love and give them a fair contract.  

Event information:

• Where: North of the Canada/US border crossing, Pacific Highway, Surrey.
• When: Wednesday February 14, 2018, starting at 1:30PM  
• Who:
  • Jean-Pierre Fortin, CIU national president, via phone
  • Richard Savage, CIU 4th national vice-president, on location

The Canada Border Services Agency praises its members as law enforcement when it suits them in the media, while constantly failing to address the need for parity with other law enforcement agencies at the bargaining table.

Border Services personnel have been without a contract for over three and a half years. These men and women protect Canadians every day, and deserve to be treated fairly.

PSAC/CIU is currently awaiting the results of a non-binding arbitration process, or Public Interest Commission, and expects the CBSA to return to the table soon after. However, the union has yet to see any major steps forward on the several major issues including:

• “25 and out” pension. The possibility of retiring without penalty after 25 years of service, with a 50% pension entitlement. This is standard for many law enforcement organizations, and most notably, the Correctional Service of Canada, and the RCMP. 
• Wage parity with other law enforcement agencies.  BSO’s are well behind other law enforcement partners when it comes to compensation.
• Protections against replacing officers with machines. The CBSA has been steadily increasing its use of Primary Inspection Kiosks at airports. Officers keep people safe, not machines, and the union is asking for assurances that officers will not be replaced by the implementation of such sub-standard technologies.
• Protections against the contracting out of work. This ensures that Canadians are kept safe by dedicated professionals with proper training.

Border Service Officers keep the country’s borders safe and they deserve to be treated as law enforcement officers by the government.

For more information and to schedule interviews: Patrick Bragg, PSAC Communications, (778) 889-3486