Strike for Canadian border workers on hold until Wednesday: union

OTTAWA — The union representing 9,000 CBSA workers said Friday they will not strike until at least Wednesday as mediation continues.

The Canadian Public Service Alliance initially said border workers would have to strike at 4 p.m. Friday if the two sides did not reach an agreement.

But shortly after 4pm, a union spokesman said negotiations would continue.

The spokesman said later on Friday that a new deadline for the strike would be set in the coming days and that job action was still possible if an agreement could not be reached at the table.

The federal Treasury Board said on Friday it was pleased PSAC had committed to staying at the negotiating table.

“Discussions to date have been productive, and we remain committed to reaching a fair and reasonable agreement for Border Services panel members as quickly as possible,” the department said in a statement.

The union did not immediately elaborate on how the talks are proceeding.

A similar strike three years ago almost halted commercial border traffic and caused major delays across the country, the union warned in the latest contract talks.

The government says 90 percent of frontline border officers are designated as essential, meaning they cannot stop work during a strike.

But union members could work to manage, a tactic where employees do their jobs exactly as outlined in their contracts.

Experts say that could still cause serious slowdowns that could turn into massive disruptions given the volume of traffic that normally moves across the border.

“CBSA employees in essential service positions must provide uninterrupted service at the border and cannot intentionally slow border processing,” the border agency said in a statement.

However, experts have questioned the logistics of the government cracking down on workers who follow the procedure and do their jobs carefully.

A strike wouldn’t just be a problem for tourists, but “would have a very significant impact on the economy,” Ian Lee, an associate professor at Carleton University’s business school, said in an interview last week.

Canadian manufacturers and exporters warned Thursday that a strike would affect the $3.1 billion in goods that cross the border each day.

“Labor action would slow commercial traffic at the border and ports of entry, impacting international travel, mail and parcel deliveries, and disrupting the collection of duties and taxes on goods entering Canada,” the group said.

“In short, a strike would massively disrupt any commercial traffic and business travel for manufacturers.”

Members want pay parity with other law enforcement agencies, Mark Weber said in an interview last week. He is the national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, which is part of PSAC.

Other issues include pension benefits and protections around “hard discipline”.

The union is also concerned that technology is taking over jobs that would otherwise be done by officers, such as the customs kiosks that have been installed at Canadian airports. They also demanded that work-from-home arrangements be enshrined in the collective agreement.

Treasury Board President Anita Anand told the House of Commons on Thursday that the government is “committed to reaching an agreement that is fair to Canadian employees and taxpayers.”

“We are more than willing to make concessions, but we expect it to happen on the other side as well,” she said during question period.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 7, 2024.

Anja Karadeglija, Canadian Press