FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                  December 8, 2000

PSAC members vote YES to strike
at Customs and Revenue Agency

OTTAWA - Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) employed by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) have voted 80% in favour of strike action.

"Our members have given the union a resounding mandate with one of the largest pro-strike votes it has received from any of its national bargaining units," says PSAC National President Nycole Turmel. "Our regional and national strike coordinating committees are already in place and strike training and preparation will begin without delay."

"I have sent a letter today to CCRA Commissioner Rob Wright advising him that we are ready to return to the bargaining table at any time, as long as the employer comes to the table with a mandate which more closely reflects our members’ demands," according to Turmel.

"This is the second time in a year that we have voted to take strike action and this vote was even stronger than the first," declares Betty Bannon, National President of the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE), a component of the PSAC. "We reached an agreement last March without having to strike, but we’re ready to do what it takes to get a fair deal from the Agency."

"PSAC members at the Agency will be undertaking a series of escalating workplace activities", says the National President of another PSAC component, the Customs and Excise Union Douanes Accise, Serge Charette. "These activities are designed to build toward strike action and to put pressure on the employer to return to bargaining with a much better offer."

Talks with CCRA broke down on November 9^th after 15 days of bargaining. While some progress was made, the employer failed to make any substantive offers on the union’s major demands. Outstanding issues include economic increases, job security, better job protection for term employees, and the elimination of regional rates of pay which exist only for a small group of employees who are classified as general services and general labour and trades workers.

The PSAC represents 30,000 employees at the CCRA. The collective agreement expired October 31, 2000.

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For more information:

Betty Bannon, Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) national president,
(613) 290-6544 (cell)
Serge Charette, Customs Excise Union Douanes Accise (CEUDA) national president,
(613) 723-8008, ext. 304

63-081200