Victoria CRA Branch Report

2019 BC/Yukon Regional Council
Victoria CRA Branch President’s Report

The Victoria CRA Branch is proud to have 15 stewards plus 2 stewards in waiting. We have over 140 members in our branch. 

We had a joint AGM with the Victoria AFS Subgroup and had four executive meetings this past year. We had a successful lunch and learn about leave provisions in the collective agreement.

I am part of the Regional Union Management Committee and we meet four times a year with the CRA’s Regional Assistant Commissioner to discuss various topics including:
External staffing,
Non-advertised staffing,
Discipline investigations,
Regional employment equity strategy, and
Phoenix pay system.

The Phoenix pay system continued to cause headaches and frustration to our members as members are paid too little or too much. Some of the known errors are incorrect acting pay, over deduction of superannuation and union dues, bilingualism bonus not paid, etc. The federal government estimates it will be another six years before the Phoenix pay system will be fixed. Our members cannot wait that long, it is time to Nix Phoenix, so that we get paid correctly and on time.

Discipline resulting from unauthorized access and disclosure of taxpayer information remains an important issue. In the past year, there have been PIPSC members involved in unauthorized access or disclosure of taxpayer information. Most of these involve members with long service. If you are unsure of what it authorized, please consult with your local stewards.

I would like to thank the Victoria CRA Branch executive and all of our stewards for their hard work and dedication.

Phil Choo
Victoria CRA Branch President