Nearly 9,000 Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) personnel will begin a work-to-rule strike on Friday, their union said, warning that the labor action could have a “dramatic impact to Canada’s supply chain” and imperil the government’s plans to reopen the border to U.S. travelers.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada and its Customs and Immigration Union issued a work-to rule strike notice on Tuesday and said the labor action will begin at 6 a.m. Friday unless an agreement on a new contract is reached. It comes as the union and the workers’ employer, the Treasury Board of Canada, agreed to return to the bargaining table on Friday.
The labor action stops short of a full strike. But the union said its impact would be felt at all of Canada’s ports of entry, hitting everything from port container operations to cross-border trucking.
“During work-to-rule strike action, CBSA employees will obey all of the policies, procedures and laws applying to their work, and perform their duties to ’the letter of the law,’” the Public Service Alliance of Canada and Customs and Immigration Union said in a statement. “This may cause long and unavoidable delays at Canada’s borders as workers carry out their jobs as they were trained to do.”
The union may be trying to work around the legal constraints of a regular strike. CBSA personnel who perform essential duties, including front-line officers, are barred from going on strike. However, the definition of essential doesn’t include collection of duties and taxes, and maintaining stakeholder relations, according to a federal labor tribunal ruling.
Global shipping giant Maersk on Tuesday said the potential impacts of any labor action by CBSA officers are difficult to gauge because of limitations on who can strike.
But it warned its customers a labor action could “have cascading effects throughout the supply chain.” The company advised customers to “review any high-profile cargo currently in your pipeline and consider expediting it prior to Aug. 6.”
The strike comes as Canada prepares to reopen its border for U.S. travelers, something expected to drive demand for freight.
The CBSA employees have been without a contract for about three years. Their union is seeking pay parity with other Canadian law enforcement agencies and changes to working conditions, alleging that members often contend with a toxic workplace.
Read more
- Canada border officers mull strike at critical time for supply chain, ports
- Canada border officers vote to strike, warn of supply chain disruption
- What will the reopening of the Canadian border mean for freight?
Click for more FreightWaves articles by Nate Tabak
Packers and movers in peenya Packers and movers in peenya Packers and movers near me Packers and movers near me Packers And Movers Banashankari Bangalore a Packers And Movers Banashankari Bangalore a Packers And Movers Jayanagar Packers And Movers Jayanagar Packers and movers Yelahanka Packers and movers Yelahanka Packers And Movers Btm Layout Packers And Movers Btm Layout Packers And Movers Koramangala Packers And Movers Koramangala Packers And Movers Hsr Layout Packers And Movers Hsr Layout Packers And Movers Bommanahalli Packers And Movers Bommanahalli Packers And Movers Begur Road Packers And Movers Begur Road Local Packers And Movers Bangalore Local Packers And Movers Bangalore Packers And Movers Ramamurthy Nagar Packers And Movers Ramamurthy Nagar Packers and movers Bangalore Packers and movers Bangalore
