Crossing back into Canada soon? Expect a longer wait at the border
People crossing the border into Canada should expect longer lines and more delays starting Friday morning, the union representing more than 8,500 Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) workers says.
If a deal isn't agreed to between the federal government and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and Customs and Immigration Unions (CIU), job action will commence at 4 a.m. MT Friday.
"They're saying enough is enough and they're prepared to take action," said Marianne Hladun, the Vice President of the PSAC Prairies division.
CBSA employees are essential workers, so they cannot walk off the job entirely, but there will be fewer people on shift and workers will not accept any overtime. It'll lead to longer lineups and delays at airports and land border crossings, Hladun said.
It comes just days before Canada is ready to reopen its border to fully-vaccinated Americans on Monday.
The job action will also apply to CBSA employees at shipping ports and postal facilities, so packages coming into Canada may be delayed as well.
Workers will also not be collecting duties and taxes during the job action.
"We're hopeful we're going to be able to settle this at the bargaining table. Because the fact is, over the past number of years, we have resolved and renegotiated almost all the different public service agreements that we needed to do," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday.
CBSA workers have been without a contract for three years and want better wage parity with other law enforcement officers, among other things.
"Key priorities are truly a toxic workplace with harassment and abuse that's not been addressed by CBSA," Hladun said.
"As well as really recognition of the fact that they are the second-largest law enforcement body in Canada."
About 400 of the impacted workers are in Alberta, the union said.
"Ninety per cent (90%) of frontline Border Services Officers have been identified as essential, meaning that they will continue to offer essential services if there is a strike. We expect that our officers will continue to fulfill their duties with the highest level of integrity and professionalism," reads a statement from the CBSA.
Teams from both sides spent Thursday negotiating and say a last-minute deal is possible to avoid job action Friday morning.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.