CFIA-IN NEWSLETTER/AGM NOTICE – May 2024

 

PIPSC WEBSITE

To view the CFIA-IN communications and meeting minutes, please visit our website at https://pipsc.ca/groups/cfia-in.

While browsing, also take a look at our ServicePlus member benefits program and take advantage of several benefits offered by various partners. For more details, follow the link https://www.serviceplusgroup.ca/.

2023 CFIA-IN Group Bursary

The draw for the last round of CFIA-IN bursaries took place at the 2023 AGM. The names of all eligible applicants were placed in a container and names were randomly chosen.

We are pleased to announce that the winners were:

1. First draw for $500: Chloe Smith (daughter of Sean Smith, NCR)
2. Second draw for $250: Alyssa Bernard (daughter of Mike Bernard, Moncton)

If you have any questions regarding the CFIA-IN bursary, please contact one of the Executive members.

2024 CFIA-IN Group Bursary

It is now time to send your entries for the annual bursary. Eligible applicants are children of Regular/Retired members in good standing or of members who were in good standing at time of death, as long as the member is part of the IN Group or was part of the IN Group at the time of death. Children of RAND deductees are NOT eligible. 

Applicants may enter any year of post-secondary education, in a full-time post-secondary program at an educational institution. This institution must be a member of the AUCC or AICC and includes CÉGEPs. 

Proof of attendance is not required to apply for this scholarship. Winners will be required to submit their proof of attendance at an accepted post-secondary educational institution for the Spring 2023 / Fall 2024 semester before the bursary is handed out.

All entries must be received by end of day, May 22, 2024. Entries can be sent by e-mail to Alain Parent.
The draw will take place at this year’s AGM. The names of all eligible applicants will be placed in a container and a name will be randomly chosen. The names of the winners may be included in a future CFIA-IN newsletter. 

BARGAINING

Our Collective Agreement expired May 31^st, 2022. We sent the notice to bargain to the employer, but it has not been possible to engage in negotiations with the CFIA but we hope to do so soon. The Institute approached the negotiation of the collective agreements in a two-step process: Group specific tables and a Central Bargaining Table that will negotiate some issues that are common to all PIPSC members.

During the past few months, your negotiating team has not been idle and has been actively negotiating with the employer. 

In our collaborative efforts with the CFIA-S&A and CFIA-VM groups, we've achieved considerable success at the CFIA PIPSC Central Table. During our initial meetings on October 17-18 and December 19-20, we reached agreement on 17 articles that address issues common across our groups. The collaborative spirit demonstrated by all parties involved allowed the union and the employer to sign off on all these items and we look forward to further productive bargaining sessions in the future.

With the central table negotiations behind us, we're now turning our focus to matters specifically concerning our group. We've scheduled a session to present our group-specific concerns to the CFIA on March 26-27, 2024. Based on your feedback, it's clear that securing competitive salaries and telework arrangements are your top priorities. These points will be at the forefront of our discussions, ensuring that our negotiations reflect the needs and concerns of our members.

We truly appreciate your continued support and engagement. Your involvement is crucial to our collective bargaining success, and we commit to keeping you informed of any developments.

As always, you can find updates on bargaining on the CFIA-IN group page.

Thank you for your trust and solidarity as we move forward together.

Your Bargaining Team

Your current bargaining team consists of:

5. Don Kenny
6. Filomena Tittarelli
7. Alain Parent
8. Spencer Underwood

Our PIPSC negotiator is Robert Séguin.

STEWARDS

We are always looking to recruit Stewards for the CFIA-IN group. We are seeking more volunteers for Stewards in the regions, especially in the West area where we haven’t had a steward in a very long time. Steward training is provided by PIPSC for those who wish to step up and become involved. Our Stewards are:

5. Donald Kenny – NCR
6. Alain Parent – Québec
7. Houman Vafaie – NCR
8. Spencer Underwood – NCR
9. Casey Howard – Atlantic

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

You are all invited to attend the CFIA-IN Group’s next Annual General Meeting on May 23, 2024. Our last AGM was held in-person and virtually on May 24, 2023. Please take some time out of your busy schedule to attend. You will have a chance to meet the current Executive and voice your opinion on the different issues and possibly help shape the new Executive. If you are in the NCR or visiting the area, please acknowledge your attendance. Reach out to your steward or executive if you need more information.

RECRUITEMENT CALL!

We currently have vacant positions and succession planning is always a current focus.  It is extremely important that some new members stand for election to fill these positions. In addition, some members of the current Executive may not be continuing beyond their current term.

Without enough participation in the CFIA-IN Executive, our group could be moved under one of the other PIPSC groups at CFIA. We would then be represented by the CFIA-S&A group or by the CFIA-VM group who have different agendas than the CFIA-IN group. Being represented by another group means that we would be competing with other group members in regard to which bargaining issues are raised and bargained for. As we are a very small group, we would have less opportunity to voice our concerns and the concerns of other groups may not be compatible with our own concerns. This is not a desirable scenario.

Elected members to the CFIA-IN Executive select their officers by an internal vote which decides who holds which office.

We, therefore, need more participation in order to keep our independence and negotiate for our own interests.

In accordance with PIPSC and CFIA-IN Group Constitutions and By-Laws, elections for the CFIA-IN Group Executive are held to elect an Executive to hold office for a term of two (2) years starting one month after the ballots are counted. Each candidate must be nominated by two members of the CFIA-IN Group in good standing (not a RAND deductee). Candidates must indicate the area in which they currently work and are encouraged to provide a brief text. Should an election be required, this information will be printed and distributed, together with the ballots, to the membership.

Whether or not you are interested in a high-profile position or just want to be involved in meetings and decisions affecting the IN Group, we ask you to submit your name.  Please advise a member of the current executive if you want to become a candidate for the CFIA-IN Group Executive.

Duty to Accommodate

DTA (Duty to Accommodate) cases for our Branch are reviewed case by case by an internal group at CFIA and their recommendations are sent to the Vice-President & Chief Information and Innovation Officer for final review. If a case is denied, a justification should be provided to you. If no justification is supplied, we recommend you ask for more details or what may be missing in order to re-submit. When you receive repeat "Denied" responses, speak to a steward who can put you in contact with the ERO group at PIPSC; they can advise you of any further steps that can potentially be undertaken.

You may also visit the PIPSC Return to Workplaces page for further information or to request assistance related to the refusal of an accommodation request.

PSHCP

PSHCP, which came into play on July 1, 2023, replaced Sunlife/Great West and affected 1.7 million current and retired employees.  Initial call wait times were as high as 55 minutes, but Canada Life hired a lot of staff and the wait times are currently between 5 and 15 minutes, depending on the time of day.  By the end of 2023, Canada Life had processed over 12 million claims under the PSHCP contract. Approximately 8,000 claims were flagged as ‘in progress’ as of December 1^st, 2023. Of these 8,000 claims, 34 claims were more than 60 calendar days old. Generally, delayed claims are due to missing information.

Return to Workplaces

Employers have the right to call workers back into the office, but employees have rights too – like the right to a healthy work environment, the right to refuse unsafe work, and the right to reasonable accommodation.

You may also visit the PIPSC Return to Workplaces page for further information or to request assistance related to the refusal of an accommodation request.

Feedback

To provide feedback on any issue covered here, please reach out to a steward or an executive member.