Report of the National President to the
National Board of Directors Meeting of
April 2011

 

Preamble

As always it gives me great pleasure to welcome the members of the National Board of Directors and the observers to Ottawa for this, the April 2011 meeting of the CIU National Board of Directors. As is also always the case, this report endeavours to report on activities and issues that have retained the Union’s attention since we last met in September of last year. I hope each of you has taken the time to take leave with loved ones and re-charge during the Winter Holiday period; if you haven’t you should plan to do so as 2011 has already begun to impose its challenges. With everything we already have on the move and things such as collective bargaining, an imminent federal election, and our Triennial Convention thrown into the mix, solicitation of our energy and resource is certain to considerably increase.

Since our last meeting, we have witnessed massive and unprecedented movement on the collective bargaining front; we will have much to discuss on this during this meeting.

One of the files all of us have diligently been working on is CBSA’s so called Strategic Review Initiative which too will be an important matter to further address and strategise on during this meeting. The CBSA Accommodation Strategy and the related follow-up to the Third Party Grounds Report has also kept us very busy and has prompted the creation of a special CIU working group made up of Board members which has already met to map out the Union’s next steps.

Some of the other substantial issues which persist in keeping us busy include the fact that CBSA continues to move forward in a somewhat meaningful way on the doubling-up and arming initiatives; these two (2) initiatives in and of themselves continue to generate many sub-issues requiring the Union’s sometimes immediate attention. Some fundamental training concerns persist and, on the positive side, more of our implementation concerns are being at least in part addressed and, though a commitment to fully arm Airport Officers still hasn’t been achieved, this objective too has once again seen noticeable movement.

As mentioned above, resisting CBSA’s proposed approach to accommodations in relation to arming and Use-of-Force continues to be a major priority given many of the fundamental legal challenges we have formally raised and which have been confirmed by the Federal Court remain outstanding in spite of the participation of a Third Party Reviewer. I wish to thank Sister Karen Church as well as the other members of the CIU Equal Opportunity Committee for their related work thus far; as well as for setting up the Duty-to-Accommodate panel discussion session which will take place during this meeting and which will include PSAC Attorney Sister Lisa Addario.

As you know, collectively, we also continue to lobby very aggressively for a CBSA led Border Patrol as well as for a better Frontline Lookout System, and we will be attempting to share as much information as possible with each other on the related developments during this meeting; the Lookout System file has seen considerable movement with the litigation of a case regarding Sister Gina Martin-Ivie on which Brother McMichael will share information with you.

Meetings and Field Visits

A list of the meetings and field visits I have undertaken since our last meeting is attached to this report under Appendix “A”.

National Office Operations

Specific information relating to National Office Operations including finances and staffing will be provided to you through the report of the National Vice-President responsible for the National Office Operations portfolio, Brother Jean-Pierre Fortin.

I do however wish to confirm the appointment of Brother Hector Melzner to the position of CIU Finance Officer. Brother Melzner began his work with us on November 29th, 2010; he holds a CMA and has an impressive background in finances which has already begun to benefit us. I know you all join me in welcoming Brother Melzner to the CIU family.

Grievance Administration in the National Office

I am pleased to report that our grievance database enhancements are now complete, as is the development of our new Grievance Administration Tracking System (GATS). Though, as expected, tweaking is ongoing and will continue during the implementation period, I am pleased to report that the overall performance of the GATS is nothing short of impressive; I have absolutely no doubt this System will provide dividends to CIU for decades to come, and may well also generate interest from other Unions.

As announced in NO-Memo 36-10, the National Office began using the GATS this January 2011. We are now at the stage where we are working on the last related outstanding issues including: the capacity to group grievances without compromising their individuality, identifying which existing grievance files to input in the GATS and how to input them (the GATS will accommodate files mid-stream, which is good since most of our current grievance files are of course already in play); completion of employee training on the use of the GATS; finalizing the Standard Operating Procedures for grievance administration in the National Office; and monitoring, adjusting, and fixing bugs in the GATS during implementation.

Also new, and incorporated to be part of the GATS, is the development of a new Grievance Report (GR). The GR is an enhanced grievance précis; LRO’s have been asked to use the GR to summarize grievances, outline their analysis, and record their recommendation to proceed with or close a grievance file. The Director has accordingly been asked to record her decision to proceed with or close a file on the GR. Blank copies of the GR’s are attached to this report as Appendix “B”.

Also attached to this report as Appendix “C” are two (2) reports that were generated from the CIU grievance database. The first report provides a national snapshot of open grievance records in our database and speaks to the workload ahead. The second report provides an overview of actions taken and outcomes obtained for grievances received and administered by the National Office during the past 12 months, broken down on a month by month basis.

As a next step, we are moving towards developing an application similar to the GATS to help us manage PSST complaints. Preliminary work has been done to configure our grievance database so that it can be used to gather data for PSST complaints however this still requires refinement.

Please note that, in the spirit of providing enhanced service to our members, National Office Labour Relations Officers will now call and speak with either the Branch Representative or the Grievor about a grievance before the LRO makes his/her recommendation to close our file and/or withdraw the grievance.

Finances/Budget
• At January 31, 2011 revenue exceeded budget by $309,354, expenditures were $100,599 over budget, appropriations were within budget for a total positive variance of $208,755.
• The investment portfolio performed at 2.77% at January 31, 2011 representing the first six months of the fiscal year. The interest received was $24,303; the total value of investments accordingly rose to total $1,784,502. As an alternative liquid investment, a $250,000 Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) was acquired given we had exceeding cash on hand coupled and our foreseeable cash requirements which include the Triennial Convention.
• Most areas of the budget are performing as expected – variances are adequately explained in the notes to the financial statements, contained in the report of Brother Jean-Pierre Fortin, 1st National Vice-President.

CIU Holdings Ltd
• The financial statements for CIU Holdings Ltd are attached as Appendix “D”.
• CIU Holdings Ltd is performing within budget having an actual operating income of $1,510. However, since the adoption of the new International Financial Reporting Standards rules implemented in Canada in 2010, it is now mandatory to use amortization standards in not-for-profit organizations (including Unions). As a consequence, the capital assets have been amortized for a total of $12,253 during the first six(6) months of the fiscal year, with a negative net accounting result of $10,744.

Staff and AEU Meetings

Brother Fortin and I continue to meet regularly with Alliance Employees Union (AEU) representatives as well as with all National Office staff. We do so in the spirit of better planning our workload, working proactively to address issues that arise in National Office operations, and in an effort to maintain transparent lines of communication and good working relations with our staff and their Union.

Predominating Issues

Collective Bargaining

The fast-tracked attempts at negotiating tentative deals which took place outside the legislated collective bargaining process at the end of 2010 were without any form of precedent. Given the extremely divisive results thus generated, I suspect and certainly hope we will never witness such an approach to collective bargaining again.

With the FB and TC Collective agreements expiring in June 2011; most of us on the Board, along with over 60 additional FB activists, attended the FB Bargaining Conference here in Ottawa at the end of this January 2011. The conference was the perfect forum for finalizing the FB Package of Demands and establishing the strong mobilization strategy which will be key for what is shaping up to be an extremely rough round of bargaining.

I am always extremely proud to be at the helm of our organization, but, as I told the group attending the conference, never more so than when I find myself in the same room with those who, by every definition, are the Union. In my address to them, I reminded CIU’s front-line activists that they truly are ‘la crème de la crème’; their ability to mobilize and bring the ranks together when it counts most has been the key to our countless achievements thus far. It is this solid and unwavering approach that will make the difference in the battles to come.

CBSA Strategic Review

CBSA’s so-called Strategic Review has monopolized much of our respective time, energy and resources since it was announced on June 28th, 2010. CIU National Vice-Presidents have been assisting affected Branches in addressing many of the related workforce adjustment situations arising from this initiative in the regions, though many workforce aspects remain undefined.

On August 3rd, 2010 I wrote to Ministers Day and Toews in their respective roles as Ministers of Treasury Board (TB) and Public Safety to express some of CIU’s key concerns regarding CBSA’s Strategic Review Initiative. Minister Day had quickly replied indicating the specific nature of the Review is for Minister Toews to respond to. For his part, Minister Toews, insultingly, took almost eight (8) months to get back to us and did so using nothing more than generic CBSA text which concluded by asking that we actually support Strategic Review. His response didn’t even refer to, let alone comment on, the questionable CBSA expenditures which we had underscored to him and which would produce savings much more appreciable than those which make up this Strategic Review. In my swift follow-up letter to him, I advised Minister Toews of our profound disappointment with his response; referring to the generic CBSA text he had used and which was virtually identical to the text that had been provided to us by CBSA, I went on to state that... “Frankly, while we have come to not expect any better from CBSA management, as Minister you are entitled to much better…..which would require informed questioning. Assisting in that process has always been the goal of our communications with you and your predecessors”. I concluded this letter by making it clear that he could not count on our support towards this initiative.

Since our last Board meeting, we have continued to actively lobby key stakeholders and Members of Parliament speaking against many aspects of this initiative and have been encouraging all of you to do the same. These included meetings Michael Ignatieff, Gilles Duceppe, as well as with TB Minister Day; we also testified before the Standing House of Commons Committee on Public Safety and National Security.

In an unprecedented move, I was asked to join a delegation of Border Caucus MP’s who were heading to Washington on a lobby mission against the announced land-border Point-of-Entry closures. Needless to say, I enthusiastically accepted this invitation and took advantage of this opportunity to also raise other questionable aspects relating to Strategic Review. The mission took place on March 3rd, 2011 and allowed me to meet nine (9) US Congressmen, Congresswomen, Senators and/or the head of their staff, all of whom had a direct interest in these unilateral Canadian decisions. I look forward to hearing how each of you have done in your respective lobby efforts.

CR/AS Classification Campaign

Like yourselves, I look forward to hearing through Brother Filice’s Report on the aforementioned given this file has seen considerable movement with CBSA committing to prioritize this initiative by finally updating all clerical job descriptions within a respectable timeframe. The objective of this project is to review and update 126 work descriptions by the Fall of 2011; each job description will be written in the required Treasury Board format and serve as a starting point for discussions between management and the affected employees.

Elected Officers Pension Provisions

While I am the first to appreciate the sensitive nature of the aforementioned subject matter, and how communications surrounding this issue were completely fumbled by the Union, it was nonetheless very disappointing that a lot of important information and details seem to have been intentionally omitted by those from within the Union who have chosen to turn this into a public debate. Not the least of these omissions is the fact that we now find ourselves having to address this situation solely because Treasury Board has chosen to renege on a long standing reciprocal agreement it had with the PSAC for elected officers.

It had already been planned to have the PSAC Pension Officer, Brother Gary Goddard, attend this meeting of the CIU National Board of Directors. As a result, the members of the Board will all have the same information and, from there, will be able to have an educated debate on the issue with all of the pertinent information in hand.

Contrary to what has been suggested by some, there can’t even be a hidden agenda with matters of this nature given anything affecting Union finances would need to be budgeted and, ultimately, adopted by the respective Conventions. Further, and so that no ambiguity exists on how I voted on the related motion during the February PSAC NBOD meeting, please note that I voted in support of allowing that the option being advanced by the PSAC in this matter be available as a solution given Treasury Board’s decision to renege on the related reciprocal agreement.

Public Service Health Care Plan

The new contract with Sun Life for the administration of the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP) took effect on November 1, 2010. The introduction of the PSHCP Benefit Card was one of the final steps in the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2006 between the Treasury Board Secretariat, the bargaining agents of the public service, and pensioners represented by the Federal Superannuates National Association (FSNA). Some of you will have had a chance to witness firsthand how the introduction of the PSHCP Benefit Card has also changed the way prescription drugs and certain medical supplies are now being processed affecting such things as supply limits. The Plan administrator has just published the latest version of its online Bulletin which I encourage you to read; it covers these and many other aspects of the Plan including the new contribution rates for pensioners, generic drug substitution, and the link between the PSHCP and provincial drug plans, to name a few. The Bulletin can be found online at:

http://www.pshcp.ca/english/bulletins/bulletin25.pdf

Pay Modernization Initiative

On February 17th, 2011, I participated in a PSAC Centre meeting which aimed to update Component Presidents and other PSAC leaders and staff on what the Union has learned so far regarding the employer’s Pay and Benefits centralization to Miramichi NB.

Implementation will be in phases; the first phase, which is expected to take place over the upcoming four (4) years, does not include CBSA. Nonetheless, we ask that all of you monitor the situation very closely within your respective Branches and that you report any and all related movement to the National Office. It will also be important to circulate all pieces of related PSAC Communications amongst the affected members given questions will only grow in numbers as anxiety levels will rise within this community. Please work towards obtaining personal e-mail addresses for every affected member and forward these to membership@ciu-sdi.ca. The e-mail addresses will be entered into the PSAC membership system; this will allow direct communication with them at crunch time. Please also identify and/or recruit representatives from within this community and identify these to us.

Taxable Benefits – Parking

On February 10th, 2011 I participated in a Union/Management briefing regarding the aforementioned; during this meeting management confirmed the related changes which now make parking a taxable benefit when provided by the employer, even in situations where parking is offered at a discounted rate. Management described the impact on CBSA employees as being minimal with only 231 employees affected; this would be primarily due to the fact that most CBSA employees either do not have parking provided to them, or they work in a shift-work environment which excludes them from the related provision of the Income Tax Act.

This initiative was initially announced to CBSA employees in June of 2010. In situations of discounted parking rates, the difference of the amount paid for parking versus the Market Value Rate (as established by PWGSC) will become the taxable portion. As an example, monthly parking paid at $120 when the Market Value Rate is 150$ makes the 30$ difference become a taxable benefit.

A breakdown of all 231 affected CBSA employees was provided as follows:

• HQ (Non EX) – 129
• EX’s – 89
• Atl – 1
• Que – 5
• NOR/SOR – 6
• Pra – 1

CIU Lobbying

As mentioned in previous sections of this report, CIU has been active on the lobbying front in areas which include opposition to CBSA’s Strategic Review. Our lobby efforts also continue to take aim at the establishment of an effective Front-Line Lookout System as well as at a CBSA lead Border Patrol. The CIU campaign to gain alternate work arrangements for Trade workers has now made its way back to the bargaining table while the newest campaign, asking for up to date job descriptions and fair classification levels for CR’s and AS’s, is also on the CIU lobbying list.

Cornwall
We keep paying close attention to the media coverage regarding the location of the Port of Cornwall, the latest of which suggests significant consideration is being given to relocating this Canadian crossing to the American side of the river. Many political and technical obstacles stand in the way of this option, not the least of which would be the required legislative changes. Needless to say, if this move were to actually materialize, a countless number of new challenges would emerge including travel patterns to and from work given there is no way Officers would accept to drive through the Reserve to get to work and, particularly not, when transporting arrested individuals.

Membership

The total number of deductees at the month of December 2010 was 11,308 made up of 10,723 signed members and 585 Rands. Since July 2010, membership has increased by a total of 16 deductees. Following is the membership statistical chart broken down by Branch which is based on the December 2010 Check-Off.

MEMBERSHIP STATISTICS
DECEMBER 2010 CHECK-OFF

On February 9th, 2011, the National Office e-mailed Address and Rand Reports along with blank Address Updating Forms to all Branch Membership Chairs and Branch Presidents. These reports too were run from the December 2010 check-off. We also mailed out a supply of PSAC Membership Application Cards. We will continue to provide Branches with the Address and Rand reports every three (3) months. Addresses are consistently being brought up-to-date and I would like to thank those Branches who are making a sublime effort in keeping our mailing list as current as possible.

Please remember that the official delegate entitlements for the 16th National Convention that will be held this October will be taken from the April 2011 Check-Off. Keep in mind that only signed members will be considered when calculating Branch delegate entitlements. To ensure that all signed cards are processed for the April Check-Off, please make certain that they are received at the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) prior to May 1, 2011 and please fax or e-mail scanned copies of application cards to the National Office until this date.

If you have any related questions concerning membership, please contact Sister Chantal Ladouceur at 613 723-8008 ext. 312 or by e-mail at membership@ciu-sdi.ca.

Communications

CIU Magazine

A new edition of the magazine was published in February 2011 primarily featuring the Canadian Police & Peace Officer Memorial Service. With the tragic on-duty death of Brother Tim Bown, and the inclusion of Brother George Arthur Jackman to the Memorial after 57 years, this featured theme was particularly appropriate.

You may have noticed that the publication of this latest issue also brought a major change to the layout of the CIU Magazine. It had been the practice to have the four (4) NBOD Executive Reports and that of the Equal Opportunity Representative published in the magazine. However, those reports were often duplicating information already in circulation and left very little space in the magazine for additional articles and other Union information. Further, with the magazine being distributed only three (3) times a year, these reports were often only published many months after their writing and some of this information became, at minimum, stale and sometimes completely obsolete. After consultation amongst the National Executive, it was decided that only an abridged version of the National President’s Report would be published in the magazine, giving an overview of the Union’s work, and all of the other reports would be posted on the website immediately after NBOD meetings, giving the membership better access to the most current information.

National Office Telecommunications

We are at the eve of a revitalization of the whole telecommunication infrastructure at the National Office. Our Communication Officer has been working with a few suppliers trying to find new and innovative solutions for our phone system, cell-phone programs, internet connectivity, and IT Network. This project is long-term based, involves many players, and will generate many of our productivity applications. We expect to have the first phase of this project, which includes the installation of a new phone system with Internet-based capabilities, in place within the next few weeks.

Campaigns

FB Bargaining will of course be one of the predominant communication campaigns during the upcoming months given connecting with the membership will once again be instrumental to our success at the bargaining table. The most up-to-date information will continue to be available on the CIU website or in the Bargaining section of the PSAC website. Please continue encouraging members to sign-up using the automatic e-mail update feature which allows newly uploaded information to be automatically communicated to them without members having to continually monitor the website.

We have also been working diligently on establishing the roster of retained lawyers who will be providing legal advice and services to the field. As part of this process, we are launching the “Don’t Talk” campaign which will be a campaign aimed at educating Officers on how to react after on-duty incidents involving the use-of-force resulting in injury or death or when a duty firearm has been fired. You should expect to receive the related pamphlets and posters for membership distribution during the upcoming weeks.

Safety & Health

While I continue to fully monitor and even maintain direct involvement in some of the work generated by the current health and safety issues, as you know I have stepped down as a full member of the Policy Health & Safety Committee (PHSC), thus allowing the involvement of another member of the NBoD Occupational Safety & Health Committee to take part in the PHSC. After Brother Matuzic chose to step down from this committee, we were pleased that Brother Brett Evans accepted to be appointed as he brings quite a varied perspective to the table linked to the work he performs in the Halifax marine Unit.

CBSA Name Tag Issue

Brother Jason McMichael, as the CIU National Vice-President responsible for the Union’s Health & Safety portfolio, has been actively working on our objections to the aforementioned CBSA initiative and will of course be reporting on it as well as on all other health and safety issues he has been working on. I nonetheless wanted to thank all of the members and activists who have taken the time to transmit their very encouraging words of appreciation for the two (2) related letters I have sent to the CBSA President.

Robert Grundie

In February 2001, Health and Safety Officer Robert Grundie concluded an investigation into the workplaces of park wardens and particularly, their responsibility to conduct law enforcement work. Brother Grundie concluded that to perform this work without the appropriate personal protective equipment, i.e. a sidearm, constituted a “danger” under Part II of the Canada Labour Code. He directed Parks Canada to either remove wardens from law enforcement work or to provide them with side arms.

In 2009, Brother Grundie was informed that he was being placed under administrative investigation for this Park Warden work that he performed in 2000 and 2001. Brother Grundie was advised that his employer, HRSDC, had reason to believe that in the course of this investigation he had violated the Code of Values and Ethics for the Public Service. Specifically, it has been alleged that Brother Grundie was remiss to participate in an information session with Park Wardens in February 2000, a session that his employer directed him to attend. It has also been alleged that Brother Grundie was biased due to his membership in the PSAC, and that he did not investigate the complaints of other PSAC members in a neutral manner. Finally, it has been alleged that by sharing information received by Parks Canada managers with Park Wardens during the course of the investigation, Brother Grundie was also demonstrating inappropriate behaviour.

Shortly after this administrative investigation by his employer commenced, Brother Grundie filed a Section 133 complaint alleging that he was being retaliated against for performing his duties under the Code. Recently produced documents have revealed that the CEO of Parks Canada, Alan Latourelle, was directly involved in discussions with the Deputy Minister of HRSDC regarding an investigation of Brother Grundie and in an internal memo to the Minister of the Environment, Jim Prentice, dated November 20, 2008 – eight (8) years after the investigation and 1 ½ years after the Appeals Officer in Occupational Health and Safety upheld Grundie’s decision - Latourelle complained that Brother Grundie’s investigation into Warden safety “may not have been conducted in a fair and impartial manner and that (Grundie) may have been biased in favour of the complainants”. Additional documents include an agreement between HRSDC and Parks Canada to “establish a partnership to facilitate joint administrative investigations(s)”.

Three (3) hearing days were held in May 2010 and additional hearing days were also scheduled for March 2011 and should have accordingly taken place by the time of our Board meeting. I will continue to monitor the case and report back.

Overview of The Canada-US Joint Border Threat Risk Assessment

This high level threat risk assessment touches on several specific border related enforcement issues. The announcement of it being undertaken had come in May 2010 and the actual assessment appears to have been completed in July 2010 but not released until March 10, 2011.

The Review is useful as a confirmation from the Governments of Canada and the United States of certain general border security and enforcement issues. It also offers specifics in a couple of areas that may well prove useful in the future. The Review provides very specific detail and summaries, particularly in the area of cross-border organized crime activities.

The Review describes itself as an assessment that will “…provide U.S. and Canadian policymakers, resource planners, and other law enforcement officials with a strategic overview of significant threats along the 5,525-mile/8,891-km international boundary between the United States and Canada.” The threats are categorized under national security; organized crime; migration; agriculture; and health.

Interestingly, while the expected broad spectrum of agencies on both sides of the border are noted as having contributed to the Review, only CBP, CBSA, and the RCMP are described as having prepared it. The relevance and importance of CBSA in all border issues, including between ports of entry, is clear from this as well.

PSAC NBOD Duties

As a member of the PSAC National Board of Directors, I continue to attend the three (3) yearly meetings of the Board, the next of which is scheduled in early June of this year. As a committee member, I also participate in meetings of the PSAC NBOD Health & Safety and Collective Bargaining Committees. I further continue representing all PSAC Components on the PSAC Pension Committee which is the committee that governs and plays an actuarial role for the Union employee’s pension fund.

Conclusion

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Union’s activists for their sustained involvement and participation in Union representation and training at all levels; without all of you, there would simply be no Union.

I also want to thank the members of the CIU National Office staff for all of their sustained hard work; we are fortunate to have such a qualified and dedicated team working for us and I know you all join me in expressing thanks and appreciation towards them.

This report of course can only cover a fragment of the issues we have been involved in during the last six (6) months, and I will be happy to answer questions on these or any matter CIU is/has been involved with.

Respectfully submitted for your consideration,

 

 

Ron Moran
National President