By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA -- The Canadian government and negotiators for the union representing border agents started a new round of talks Monday in a bid to avoid a labor disruption that could stymie cross-border commercial-truck traffic and tourist entry.
Canada border agents will be in a legal strike position as of this Thursday, the union said. The Public Service Alliance of Canada has warned that its 9,000 members who work at the Canada Border Services Agency could start a work-to-rule campaign unless its key demands, most notably higher pay, are addressed in a new collective bargaining agreement.
Talks are under way with the help of a federal labor mediator. Border agents have been without a contract for over two years.
Most front-line border agency employees are deemed essential, so they can't technically go on strike. However, they could begin work-to-rule, as they did during a short strike in 2021, which triggered a decline in productivity and long delays to process shipments and travelers at Canadian land crossings, airports and shipping ports.
"We are prepared to do whatever it takes to win a fair contract," said Mark Weber, head of the Customs and Immigration Union, a unit of the public-service alliance that represents border agents. He said a decision to begin work-to-rule on Thursday or shortly thereafter will be based on progress in negotiations.
About US$2.6 billion in U.S.-Canada trade in goods and services crosses the border each day, and business groups warn a labor disruption could upend continental supply chains. Tourism data from Statistics Canada also indicate that foreign visits to the country have yet to reach 2019, or prepandemic, levels.
"Beautiful timing, just when the summer is near and the recovery is taking place," Jim Diodati, the mayor of Niagara Falls, Ontario, a tourist destination, told local media regarding possible labor action by border agents. "I am so hopeful they will get that solved."
A report last week from a public-sector labor-relations board indicated the Canadian government is balking at union demands that the pay for border agents is equivalent to that of other law-enforcement agencies, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Weber wouldn't disclose exact details but said border agents are paid less than what an RCMP constable makes a year, which is about US$77,000.
"The government is duplicitous in its stance," Weber said, adding that officials boast in press releases about border agents seizing firearms and preventing stolen cars from leaving the country via ports. "They are ready to point to us as the first line of defense and cite the great work we do keeping our country safe. But when it comes to pay and benefits, we get a different story."
A representative from Canada's Treasury Board, which is handling the negotiations, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The labor-relations board report, which summarized the state of talks, said the government rejected the comparison to the RCMP. "Merely existing within the law enforcement sector does not necessarily mean that all positions within that sector are equivalent," the report said, summarizing the government's position.
Canadian government negotiators, according to the report, also argue that economic headwinds limit the government's ability to meet the union's pay demands, citing lackluster economic growth, elevated inflation and a rise in unemployment. Negotiators also point to the increase in the public debt and higher interest rates.
Canada estimates the union's demands would mean extra spending of about US$323.5 million over three years. The government termed that "unaffordable," according to the report.
In a statement last week, Canada's Treasury Board said it wants to reach a deal that is fair to border agency employees "and reasonable for taxpayers."
Write to Paul Vieira at Paul.Vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 03, 2024 16:13 ET (20:13 GMT)
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