Canada border cops could grind down int’l traffic flow

OTTAWA — Truckers and cross-border vacationers should prepare for "a long, hot summer" warns the frustrated union for Canada Customs officers.

Upset with the state of contract negations with the Canada Border Services Agency, union leader Marie-Claire Coupal, told the Windsor Star that while the union is not calling for an official slowdown, disgruntled workers might shift down all on their own.

"We have no control — that’s the problem. They may take some of these things into their own hands," she says.

The workers have been without a contract for almost a year and the two sides are far apart in negotiations on salary issues and work conditions, reports the Star. The union wants 30 percent salary hike over three years, but CBSA’s latest offer is reportedly only two percent over four years.

"It sounds like a lot, but if you look at what we are taking on, it’s not out of line," Coupal.

There are no talks scheduled between the two sides.