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PAFSO Visa section will be completely shutdown effective Monday 29 July

oh101

Star Member
Jul 16, 2013
71
2
PAFSO members will shutdown all services until further notice (Currently they are working at limited services)


Visa office that will be affect are

Abu Dhabi.
Ankara.
Beijing.
Cairo.
Delhi/Chandigarh.
Hong Kong.
London.
Manila.
Mexico City.
Moscow.
Paris.
Riyadh.
Sao Paulo.
Shanghai.


On Twitter Clement said he couldn't comment on future options but that new Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander "will be able to deal with the resources needed

Source : CBC National Television
 

oh101

Star Member
Jul 16, 2013
71
2
Striking foreign service officers are withdrawing all services at Canada's 15 biggest visa processing centres abroad starting Monday, following a failed attempt to go to arbitration to settle the bitter contract dispute with the government.

The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers, the union representing the officers, said Friday that Treasury Board President Tony Clement had rejected its offer of binding arbitration because the union wouldn't accept the conditions Clement attached to the offer.

The union began staging rotating job actions in the spring at different embassies and visa processing centres at different times, which has slowed down work abroad but not completely stopped it. Now the union is stepping up its pressure on the government.

"Effective Monday, in order to persuade the government that binding arbitration remains the responsible way forward to resolve our dispute, PAFSO members will withdraw all services until further notice at Canada's fifteen largest visa processing centres abroad," PAFSO said in a statement.

The centres are:

Abu Dhabi.
Ankara.
Beijing.
Cairo.
Delhi/Chandigarh.
Hong Kong.
London.
Manila.
Mexico City.
Moscow.
Paris.
Riyadh.
Sao Paulo.
Shanghai.
"We take no pleasure whatsoever in these strike actions and their real, severe, and mounting effects on the Canadian economy. But it should now be evident to all Canadians that from this point forward the government of Canada bears sole and complete responsibility for these impacts," the union said.

The tourism sectors and education institutions and organizations have been vocal with their concerns about the foreign service strike because of its impact already on the processing of visas. PAFSO encouraged them and others Friday to urge the government to "bargain freely and flexibly."

After the last round of negotiation broke down with no resolution and weeks went by with no talks scheduled, the union proposed to the government that they go to binding arbitration. The government then responded that it would agree, only if the union accepted certain conditions. It wanted the conditions kept confidential.

But in its statement Friday PAFSO shared some of the conditions and said two of them were "so paralyzing that their acceptance would have predetermined the outcome of arbitration in the government's favour and negated the purpose and integrity of the process."

Union accepted some conditions
The government wanted to exclude any mention of other bureaucrats who perform similar work, according to the union, "which has been at the heart of our position since day one."

"Equal pay for equal work," has been the union's slogan throughout the strike and it's the main sticking point in the dispute.

Ending their work action during the arbitration process was another condition the government wanted to impose and is one the union accepted. It also accepted two other conditions, but without accepting all six, the government said no to arbitration.

The union is accusing Clement of "cherry-picking criteria" that would have favoured the government's position and of "negotiating in bad faith."

Clement rejects those accusations. In his own statement released Friday he said the government has put a fair contract offer on the table and it's "disappointed that PAFSO was so quick to reject our willingness to enter into a binding arbitration process that the union itself requested."

He said the Canadian public is concerned about PAFSO's willingness to disrupt international business and tourism during the busy summer season.

"However, we want to reassure Canadians and our international friends that, despite PAFSO's actions, Canada remains open for business, and that we continue to welcome visitors and international students to experience Canada," Clement said.

On Twitter Clement said he couldn't comment on future options but that new Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander "will be able to deal with the resources needed."


Source : Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
 

mrsldr

Star Member
May 10, 2013
168
0
Category........
Visa Office......
Abu Dhabi
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
September 12, 2013
Doc's Request.
from ADVO- December 09, 2013
AOR Received.
from ADVO- December 09, 2013
File Transfer...
to ADVO- September 30, 2013
Med's Done....
July 07, 2013
Interview........
waive!!!!
Passport Req..
april 16, 2014
VISA ISSUED...
april 29, 2014. Passport sent back to me: May 6, 2014
LANDED..........
July.........
let's just hope and pray this will be over soon :(
 
Jul 26, 2013
2
0
NDVO IS CURRENTLY RUNNING emergency services,,,,,,they are training new staff for the work. Currently visa issuance rate has dropped down from 100 to 25. But still they r issuing visas,,,,,,the things will not be stabilized soon but it will take time,,,,,and how long ,,nobody knows ,,,,,Moreover CHC is not very prompt Embassy
 

castleseng

Full Member
May 11, 2013
33
0
Category........
Visa Office......
London
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
25-07-2013
AOR Received.
15-08-2013
File Transfer...
23-08-2013
Med's Done....
08-07-2013
something is better than nothing!
 

JimE2013

Star Member
Feb 13, 2013
159
8
Category........
Visa Office......
Mexico City
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
21-06-2013
AOR Received.
24-10-2013
File Transfer...
24-06-2013
Med's Done....
02-04-2013
Passport Req..
21-01-2014
VISA ISSUED...
20-02-2014
LANDED..........
17-03-2014
Not if you're not from India.
 

samz ana

Star Member
Jul 27, 2013
109
1
Nepal
Category........
Visa Office......
New Delhi
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-03-2013
AOR Received.
04-04-2013
File Transfer...
04-04-2013
Med's Done....
December 2012
Passport Req..
28-05-2013
VISA ISSUED...
Decision Made
LANDED..........
as soon as possible
what could be worse than this ??? :mad:
 

gongdi

Star Member
Jan 14, 2013
166
14
PARMINDER SINGH said:
NDVO IS CURRENTLY RUNNING emergency services,,,,,,they are training new staff for the work. Currently visa issuance rate has dropped down from 100 to 25. But still they r issuing visas,,,,,,the things will not be stabilized soon but it will take time,,,,,and how long ,,nobody knows ,,,,,Moreover CHC is not very prompt Embassy
So what you are saying is visa issuance will drop another 75%???? :eek:
 

oh101

Star Member
Jul 16, 2013
71
2
gongdi said:
So what you are saying is visa issuance will drop another 75%???? :eek:
Maybe more since they will forward the application from 10 visa section to only 1 case processing centre.


Harper try to break another union again. This time we have to see who gonna running out the patience first. Harper Government or PAFSO union

I hope Justin Trudeau will bring this topic to the chamber.
 

JimE2013

Star Member
Feb 13, 2013
159
8
Category........
Visa Office......
Mexico City
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
21-06-2013
AOR Received.
24-10-2013
File Transfer...
24-06-2013
Med's Done....
02-04-2013
Passport Req..
21-01-2014
VISA ISSUED...
20-02-2014
LANDED..........
17-03-2014
All unions have outlived their usefulness, and it's crap like this that proves that.
 

Dan_from_Surrey

Hero Member
Nov 5, 2010
485
23
124
Surrey BC
Category........
Visa Office......
Manila
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
19-09-2012
Doc's Request.
Submitted with app
AOR Received.
Sponsorship approval 24-10-12
File Transfer...
24-10-12
Med's Request
Meds received 1-11-12
Med's Done....
15-08-2012 - Meds re-done 24-10-2013
Interview........
NA
Passport Req..
04-06-2013 DM 04-11-13
VISA ISSUED...
11-12-2013
LANDED..........
22-11-2013!
JimE2013 said:
All unions have outlived their usefulness, and it's crap like this that proves that.
I like the way you back up your statement with out a single fact.
 

user828

VIP Member
Apr 2, 2012
3,439
82
Vancouver
Category........
Visa Office......
New Delhi ( Parents Sponsorship )
App. Filed.......
19-10-2017
AOR Received.
01-12-2017
Awesome, go for it - shut it down. What else you have? bring it on - whats next

Tim Edwards tweeting that CIC Officers are the airport leaving the country.

This situation is like telling a heart patient, sorry but starting Monday " sorry but you have cancer as well and we have to look at our options since the treatment is not down temporarily "
 

gongdi

Star Member
Jan 14, 2013
166
14
Two weeks ago, my wife's e-cas was finally switched to "in process". Now, this! My wife's passport has been collecting dust in the visa office for 3 months, so what's another 6 months? ???
This is truly a nightmare. I hope the inevitable big payday makes the visa officers very happy, because they have been dragging us through the mud for months and without end. As much as I despise this government's hatred of unions, I must admit that it's becoming very clear that neither side gives a damn about the thousands of families whom are affected by their actions.
:mad:
 

gongdi

Star Member
Jan 14, 2013
166
14
Another question:
Does anyone know that if by "shutting down" overseas offices, the officers will be getting on planes and flying back to Canada to wait this thing out or will they still be picketing outside their respected embassies? I've worked under a union before but we never had to strike so I'm new to this type of thing. If they all went home, it would be the proverbial nail in the coffin for the next 3-4 months I would think. ???