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Potential strike action by 9,000 Canada Border Service Agency employees has been postponed until Wednesday as the two sides will continue in mediation.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada said no picket lines or other job action will be taken until further notice.
The union issued the postponement announcement just before Friday’s 4 p.m. strike deadline with the sides still engaged at the table.
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The border agency workers have been without a contract for two years.
The Customs and Immigration Union, which is affiliated with PSAC and represents the workers in talks, said the key issues remain wages, pensions and benefits.
CIU president Mark Weber said the union is looking for contract terms similar to those enjoyed by other law enforcement agencies in Canada.
In particular, the CIU is seeking wage parity with RCMP officers, who make about 15 per cent more than CBSA agents, and a pension plan that also contains the 25-and-out provision enjoyed by other law enforcement agencies.
Any job action would’ve impacted all land crossings, ports and international airports in Canada.
Though 90 per cent of CBSA employees are deemed essential workers and not allowed to walk off the job, they can employ a work-to-rule strategy that would slow down processing entries into the country. That would’ve quickly created long backups and delays of goods and people.
The last time CBSA workers held a job action was in 2021. That disruption lasted 36 hours before a new contract was agreed.
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The fear of another border-closing dispute prompted the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters to issue a statement Thursday urging the two sides to reach a settlement to avoid a costly dispute.
“We are very concerned about the impacts that another critical supply chain disruption, this time at CBSA, will have on manufacturers,” said CME president Dennis Darby in the statement.
“Extended delays will disrupt operations and production schedules, harming manufacturers, and their workers. Once again, manufacturers are being held hostage from circumstances outside their control.”
In addition to the CBSA labour action in 2021, cross-border business was disrupted by the Ambassador Bridge blockade during the COVID pandemic and a strike by St. Lawrence Seaway workers in last October.
Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO Rakesh Nadiu also sent a letter to the president of the Treasury Board Anita Anand and Weber on Wednesday outlining the costs of job action at the border.
Naidu noted trade at the Windsor-Detroit crossing alone accounted for $400 million worth of goods per day.
Manufacturers and the local agricultural sectors would also have been impacted with their just-in-time delivery schedules thrown into chaos.
“Our concern isn’t just over the flow of goods, but the reputational damage even a short strike would have,” Naidu said.
“We want to be viewed as a reliable trading partner. Things like this make businesses think about if it’s better to take the border out of the equation.”
Dwaddell@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/winstarwaddell
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