CEIU Members take on Legal Discrimination battle at IRB

A group of CEIU members at the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) have been fighting classification and discrimination issues for over 20 years. That’s right! Since 1989 Case Management Officers (CMO’s) at the IRB, led by Norm Murray, CEIU’s National Vice-President for the IRB, have been engaged in their very own fightback campaign.

They have challenged the employer’s definition of their work, the content of their job descriptions, their classification and their ability to advance in their careers. Now, with the help of their union, they seem to be making headway. One major case which is winding its way through the Federal Court involves about 20 CMO’s who want to squash a Classification Grievance Committee decision dated May 11, 2010 that refused their claims for a higher classification in recognition of their increased duties and responsibilities.

Here is the application filed by the CMO’s in the Federal Court on November 15, 2011.

According to their lawyer, Yavar Hameed, “The CMOs filed an application alleging a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the classification grievance committee which denied the reclassification of the CMO position in 2010 despite the clearly inaccurate job description that was being considered by the Committee. The Committee had a panel member who was integrally involved in the classification exercise at the IRB in 2005, but claimed to have had no involvement with the CMO position.  On November 18, 2011, the Federal Court decided that there was no reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the Committee, in part, because a very low level of fairness is expected for a non-arbitrable classification review exercise.  Indeed, there was a low level of fairness and as a consequence CMOs have been once again relegated to the same classification and level where they have been ghettoized for some 20 years despite the fact that they have been and  continue to perform complex tasks commensurate with a higher knowledge level, skill set and interaction with other key contacts than they are given credit for.  The sequestration of the Case Managers at  PM-01 level is a glaring injustice that continues fester within the IRB.”

This is one of a series of legal challenges filed by this group of junior officers across the country in the Federal Court, with the Public Service Commission (PSC), the Public Service Staffing Tribunal (PSST)  and the Public Service Labour Relations Board (PSLRB), ribunals set up for recourse by federal workers. In another case, Brother Murray, a CMO himself, is getting prepared as his Human Rights complaint on “clustering” in the federal public service moves further into the process. This case identifies specific barriers faced by Case Management Officers to achieving promotion and having the ability to advance in their career because of the fact that they are predominantly members of a racially visible or minority group.

If successful this would be another giant crack in the “plexi-glass ceiling” that many feel has existed for racialized workers in the federal public service. The last such crack occurred in 1996 when the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) issued its Heath Canada decision involving Dr. Shiv Chopra. The case is scheduled hearing by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal early in 2012.

CEIU salutes these workers and union members for their dedication and perseverance in staying strong for so many years in their fight for justice. CEIU National Executive Vice-President Steve McCuaig singled out Norm Murray for special recognition. “Brother Norm Murray has been a long time leader in our union for the rights of all workers, especially racialized workers and other minority groups. He has been tireless in their efforts and has earned the respect of all members of CEIU and PSAC. We are fortunate to have him as a member of the CEIU National Executive.”

Stay tuned to the CEIU website for news and updates about these struggles at the IRB and throughout the union. Your comments and input are welcomed.