FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                     February 21, 2000

OTTAWA….Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) employed by the new Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA), have voted very strongly to take strike action up to and including a general strike. These members are in the Customs Excise Union Douanes Accise (CEUDA) and Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) components of the PSAC.

"Our members have responded dramatically to CCRA management’s performance at the bargaining table to date," said PSAC National President Daryl Bean. "By a vote of 74%, our members have rejected this new employer’s use of the old Treasury Board bargaining tactics of deny and delay. Up to now, CCRA’s standard answer to our demands, even those that have no cost implications, has been NO."

"CCRA management has spent more time writing letters complaining about the PSAC than it has at the bargaining table," according to Bean. "They’ve tried unsuccessfully to shift the blame for the lack of progress on the Alliance. However, the blame for no progress is strictly on CCRA’s shoulders.

"Back in September, we had every indication from the CCRA that any agreements reached at the PSAC/Treasury Board tables would be applied to our Agency members. Then the employer changed its mind and withdrew from the PSAC/Treasury Board bargaining process effective November 1, 1999 - the start date of the new Agency. Our team came to the CCRA bargaining table focused and committed to a speedy process. Unfortunately, the CCRA negotiators came without the same commitment and apparently without a mandate to bargain. They spent less than four hours at the table during five days of negotiations in January and no new meeting dates for the full team have yet been suggested."

"Through their strike vote PSAC members have said clearly they are not going to wait for months for the employer to come to the table with a mandate to bargain," says UTE National President Betty Bannon. "The Alliance filed a request for the appointment of a Conciliation Board on February 3^rd and here again the employer is intent on delay. Notwithstanding the employer’s refusal to agree to further bargaining dates, it has taken the position that the Public Service Staff Relations Board should not intervene by establishing a Conciliation Board."

According to CEUDA National President Serge Charette, "our first priority is to negotiate a collective agreement. If CCRA management is prepared to take the negotiating process seriously by coming to the table with a mandate to negotiate the issues and to stay there until an agreement or an impasse is reached, the PSAC bargaining team is prepared to meet."

"However, as long as the employer fails to take the process and our demands seriously the result will be disruptions in service to the public," says Bean. "Canadians may face delays at border crossings from information pickets; the processing of income tax returns and refunds may be delayed. The Alliance would prefer to negotiate a settlement but CCRA management, apparently unconcerned about inconveniencing Canadians, is giving us no choice but to take action."

The PSAC is the bargaining agent for approximately 30,000 employees of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.

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For information:

Daryl Bean, national president, PSAC, (613) 560-4330

Betty Bannon, national president, UTE (613) 235-6704

Serge Charette, national president CEUDA (613) 723-8008, ext. 304

08-210200