(WWJ) Canadian Customs workers have reached a deal with the Canadian government--ending a 'work-to-rule' strike that had Michigan international border crossings stacked with traffic, resulting in hours-long backups.
Around 11:30 p.m. Friday, the Canadian government released a statement saying they had a "tentative agreement" with Canadian border services workers represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Customs and Immigration Union.
The four-year-agreement impacts about 9,500 workers and "recognizes the important work of border services workers," according to the statement. It includes pay raises, and new provisions for caregiver leave, extended parental leave and domestic violence leave.
At the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit Friday morning, commercial trucks were at a standstill at the bridge headed into Canada since around 6 a.m. — when Canadian border agents gave notice to the Canadian government that if they could not reach an agreement, they would strike.
"Well, it looks like there's no agreement because the trucks are backed up; it is stopped," WWJ's Charlie Langton reported at the time.
Backups and delays continued well into Friday evening at the Ambassador Bridge, Blue Water Bridge and Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, with wait times to cross the border exceeding three and a half hours
Truck drivers were being told to stay in the right lane and not block the travel lanes while waiting to cross the border.
Drivers were urged to plan accordingly.
"If you are commercial traffic waiting to cross you may want to stop prior to the crossing until the congestion clears as you will not be able to stop in the travel lanes and wait," said a spokesperson for Michigan State Police. "PS: Don’t call and swear at our dispatchers. They have nothing to do with it."
A pair of unions, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU), earlier this week warned that nearly 9,000 Canada Border Services Agency employees would “begin job action across the country” on Friday in what's called a "work to rule" strike.
In this type of strike, employees obey policies, procedures and laws that apply to their work and perform their jobs to “the letter of the law,” the unions wrote — which “may cause long and unavoidable delays at Canada’s borders as workers carry out their jobs as they were trained to do.”
In a statement on Twitter, PSAC said that a negotiating team had been at the table overnight, and "we are giving them a little more time to negotiate. Meanwhile, the strike to rule began across the country. We will take stock as soon as possible."
The border has been closed to all but essential travel due to the coronavirus.
One worker at the Ambassador Bridge, who opted not to give his name, told Langton this is going to cause all kinds of problems.
"You know, you stop those commodities from coming over, that's significant, and it impacts the economy," he said.
Meanwhile, big backups formed at the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia as well.
A "tentative agreement" was achieved less than 24 hours after the strike began.
See the full statement below:
"Government of Canada Reaches Tentative Agreement with Representatives of Border Services Officers
August 6, 2021 – Ottawa, Ontario
The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, President of the Treasury Board and the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada today made the following statement:
The Government of Canada has reached a tentative agreement today with federal border services officers represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Customs and Immigration Union.
The four-year tentative agreement, which applies to close to 9,500 border services officers at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), recognizes the important work of border services officers. It also recognizes our government’s responsibility to Canadian taxpayers for a reasonable deal, situated in the economic reality of the country.
This tentative agreement provides general economic increases of 2.8 percent and 2.2 percent reflecting the relatively strong economic environment in 2018 and 2019. Lower economic increases of 1.35 per cent and 1.5 per cent would be provided in the third and fourth years of the agreement reflecting the reduced economic growth experienced in Canada in 2020 and 2021. New provisions for caregiver leave, extended parental leave, and domestic violence leave are also part of the agreement.
Throughout this process, we have remained at the table, committed to getting a deal in good faith in keeping with how modern, constructive labour negotiations are conducted."