Union for Canada's border workers extends job action deadline as mediation continues
Workers at ports of entry across Canada will go about business as usual over the coming days.
A strike and any job action by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) workers were averted by the 4 p.m. ET Friday deadline as union leadership and the government have extended mediation talks until Wednesday.
"Picket lines will not be in place until further notice. Stand by for further details," the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) said in a social media post just after 4 p.m.
News of the extended deadline is a reprieve for commuters, industry and small businesses who've expressed concerns about long, costly delays at Canada-U.S. borders.
Over 9,000 workers, who have been in a legal strike position since Thursday, could be part of any eventual job action. They include employees at airports, and land and marine ports of entry.
The CIU, which is affiliated with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), and the CBSA have been in mediation since Monday.
Being in a legal strike position doesn't necessarily mean CBSA workers will walk out after the deadline passes.
About 90 per cent of the border workers are deemed essential, the CBSA said in a statement. That means they must continue to do their jobs, but are free to participate in job action outside their working hours.
Trucks were backed up on the Ambassador Bridge on Friday. (Dale Molnar/CBC)
As part of any job action, work to rule is a strong possibility, an associate professor says.
"You can create tremendous lineups of those trucks and tremendous lineups of people," said Ian Lee of the Sprott School of Business at Ottawa's Carleton University. "It'll be very, very disruptive if they do work-to-rule because so many people cross that border every day."
The union has noted job protections, pensions and automation as issues at the bargaining table. But they're also looking to secure wage parity with other law enforcement agencies, as well as the "25 and out" retirement provision.
