Mid Term Update

Written By Meghan Potasse

Dear Local 522 members,

It has been six months since we began our mandate at Local 522 here in IRCC. I would like to take this opportunity to give you an update on the work done so far and reiterate my vision for our Local.  As your Local president, I deeply believe in democratic organization of work and the positive role that unions can play to improve work conditions for all by building community, cultivating relationships, raising awareness, and removing barriers that may hold back members from achieving their full potential in the roles they hold. Our main goal has been to activate and organize our 1,100 members at IRCC, whether they are located in the National Capital Region (NCR) or in other parts of the country.

I take my mandate as the Local President very seriously, advocating on your behalf in every meeting I have attended with senior management, communicating your concerns related to health and safety, equity, mental health, childcare, commuting and wasted personal time, anxiety and added stress or financial burden.

At the core of our vision lies:

  • Promoting democratic participation in the workplace by our members;

  • Strengthening our identity as Local 522 members by amplifying our concerns;

  • Discussing strategies to address our concerns collectively

To this end, our strategy at the Local has been to:

  • Meet regularly on a weekly basis since April, holding virtual open-door meetings where all members are welcome to drop in, participate, ask questions, or share their concerns.

  • Hold town halls; We held town halls in May (hybrid), August (virtual) and September (virtual)

  • Work with other Unions at IRCC to build bridges and improve work conditions at IRCC for all

To support our case for flexible telework rights and democratic control of our work conditions, we launched two petitions:

  • Petition for overnight lockers and additional bike racks (to be delivered to Health and Safety Committee and Accommodations at IRCC on October 24, 2024); and

  • Petition for Flexible Telework Rights (flexible rights are already enshrined in the Canada Labour Code

Building community beyond CAPE

  • Our strength comes from our numbers and from working together with other sister unions at IRCC. Therefore, I am proud to say that we have invested heavily in cultivating relationships with PSAC, CEIU, UNE, PIPSC, ACFO and PAFSO, other unions with members at IRCC. This collaboration means we have a community of support and solidarity, which helps us collectively communicate our members’ concerns to senior management. At the core of this relationship is a desire to improve work conditions for all unions’ members.

  • Our last two virtual town halls have been co-hosted with the other unions at IRCC and our two petitions were also coordinated with the other unions at IRCC.

Engaging the Employer

Our goal is to work with the management to achieve optimal work conditions for our members while you deliver high value services to Canadians. Our strategy for engaging the employer has been to remain very transparent in all our communications, build bridges where none existed before and to avoid an adversarial relationship.

I believe transparency plays a crucial role in  building trust. .  As federal public servants, we come from all parts of the country. Through regular engagement, conversations, town halls, I hope that we will start building relationships of trust where there is no prior organic bond to hold us together and little pre-established trust that could facilitate the building of community amongst us as members of this Local. The context of the RTO-03 poses an even bigger challenge for building that trust, however, it simultaneously presents an opportunity in a very vulnerable moment faced with a seriously disruptive change.

The context of RTO-03 seems to have resulted in an environment of fear and suspicion due to lack of open engagement around RTO-03 by management, and the absence of trust at all levels. Our goal is to work towards fighting this environment of fear by creating spaces for building community, understanding, holding conversations, exchanging ideas and encouraging openness on all sides. This is the only fruitful way for us to move forward and to ensure our collective well-being.

Finally, let me reiterate that the union’s presence in the workplace must be viewed as a positive development, and we should be proud of our collective identity, protect it, and strengthen it as it will only contribute to improving the work environment for everyone.

I welcome you all to drop into the Local’s virtual open-door weekly meeting sessions if you have questions or concerns or simply want to say hello and learn more about the Local’s other actively involved members. This is your Local, your union, and its strength comes from our collective work as its members.

In solidarity,

Angela Joya

President | Présidente

ACEP-CAPE Local 522 | Section locale 522

Meghan Potasse