Federal court shuts down forced bargaining vote for border services agents

Union calls on government to continue good-faith negotiations

Canada’s border officers will not be forced to vote on an unapproved contract, the federal court has decided.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) took their case to the courts after reaching an impasse at the bargaining table with the Treasury Board. That caused the federal government to enforce the Public Service Labour Relations Act in an attempt to force about 7,000 agents to vote on the final collective agreement offer from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

But the Federal Court of Canada overturned the government’s request at the end of August.

Now, the union is calling on the Treasury Board and CBSA to return to the bargaining table.

“The government tried but failed to circumvent the bargaining process by forcing [our] members to vote on an offer that was not agreed to at the bargaining table,” said a statement from PSAC. “Our main objectives were to defend the collective bargaining process and to force the employer to return to the bargaining table to negotiate in good faith.”

PSAC added it will now focus its attention on reaching a collective agreement.

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