Long lines of semi-trailer trucks snaked away from the Canada-U.S. frontier Friday as a work-to-rule campaign by border agents slowed traffic to a crawl and marathon negotiations stretched into the afternoon just days before COVID-19 restrictions were scheduled to ease.
Land-border crossings like the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., and the Blue Water Bridge in nearby Sarnia were reporting commercial delays of more than 90 minutes, while regular travellers at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge near Niagara Falls were waiting in line for more than an hour.
Guards who work for the Canada Border Services Agency were following procedures to the letter, part of a job action that began early Friday amid contract talks between the federal government and the Public Service Alliance of Canada's Customs and Immigration Union.
"We ask travellers to be patient," said Denis Vinette, vice-president of the agency's travellers branch.
"Our officers are administering a very different border than the one that we had (before) some of these restrictions, and at the same time they are still going through a legal bargaining process, which we all hope will conclude at some point."
Talks between CBSA, the federal government and the union, which represents some 9,000 agency employees, continued through the night and well past the union's initial 6 a.m. deadline, which is when the job action was scheduled to begin.
A union news conference that had been scheduled for 10 a.m. was also postponed as the talks dragged on well past the 24-hour mark, fuelling speculation that the two sides could be close to reaching an agreement.
"Our bargaining team representing CBSA employees has been in mediation with CBSA and Treasury all night and through to this morning, and we’re giving them a bit more time to negotiate at the table," the union said in a statement.
"In the meantime, work-to-rule actions are underway at border crossings and airports across the country."
Work-to-rule can entail a wide range of actions that slow down operations, like refusing to work overtime, asking each traveller or trucker every single question in the manual, and demanding to see documentation for purchases made while outside of the country.
The campaign comes just days before Canada plans to begin easing its COVID-19 restrictions at the border; as of midnight Sunday night, fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents will be allowed back into the country for the first time since March 2020.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, whose members are still reeling from the lingering economic impact of the pandemic, urged the two sides to come to an agreement soon.
"A strike at the border would have a negative impact on the movement of people and goods at a time when many businesses are already dealing with major supply chain challenges, growing labour shortages and reduced sales," said national affairs vice-president Corinne Pohlmann.
"They cannot afford to lose any more business because of delays at the border, and Canada’s economic recovery cannot take another setback."
Vinette said the agency is fully prepared for the possibility of the job action continuing into Monday, and warned that further delays would be likely if that happened.
"We do expect to see some delays as part of this labour action," he said. "We're just asking folks to be patient."
The union, which has been without a long-term contract for CBSA employees since 2018, served notice Tuesday of its planned work-to-rule campaign. Some 90 per cent of front-line border workers are deemed essential, a designation that prevents them from walking off the job.
The Treasury Board of Canada, which oversees government spending and the management of public-sector employees, acknowledged Friday that mediated talks were still ongoing.
"The government is still at the table and will not walk away," it said in a statement.
The union had said members would begin a "sweeping" series of actions at Canadian airports, land borders, commercial shipping ports, postal facilities and headquarters locations if a contract hadn't been reached by early Friday morning.
