About 8,500 workers represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) are set to take part in a work-to-rule strike. This means that they will be performing the minimum amount of work required by their contracts.
The strike would not only affect airports and land borders, but also operations at commercial shipping ports, postal facilities and CBSA offices.
The strike is officially set to begin at 6 am EST on Friday 06AUG.
It couldn’t be worse timing. That’s only days before a potential huge wave of traffic arriving at Canada’s border with the U.S. as Canada reopens for non-essential travel by eligible, fully vaccinated Americans on 09AUG.
If the strike goes ahead as planned Friday morning, it would leave only the weekend to come to an agreement before the border reopens Monday.
"We truly hoped we wouldn't be forced to take strike action, but we've exhausted every other avenue to reach a fair contract with the government," said Chris Aylward, PSAC's national president, in a media statement.
Members of the unions voted to strike in late JUL. They say they are seeking better protection against harassment and discrimination, changes to what they call the CBSA's "toxic workplace culture" and better wage parity with other law enforcement agencies, according to the CBC.
