OTTAWA, (Oct. 12, 2004) — Nearly 120,000 federal government workers — including many Canada Customs officials — have walked off the job or are working to rule as a strike deadline of midnight last night came and went without a deal.

Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada — which include 80,000 program and administrative staff such as customs officials, immigration officers, Revenue Agency employees, Employment Insurance and Canada Pension representatives — began walking off the job this morning while negotiations continue with the government.

That could mean delays at the borders, passport offices, tax offices, and most government centres.

Although border inspection officers are deemed to be essential workers and cannot walk off the job, truckers and travellers entering Canada will still likely experience several delays and disruptions at land ports across the country. The border guards will likely continue a work to rule campaign similar to the one they and other PSAC workers have been staging off and on since the start of summer.

As Today’s Trucking has reported over the last few months, customs officers across Canada began exercising what they call “due diligence,” — doing their jobs as meticulously as possible to slow down traffic — on at least three long weekends since July. There is a strong possibility such action could last for the duration of the negotiations at various Canadian-U.S. border crossings.

As of this morning, things appeared to be normal at the Peace Bridge, Buffalo, N.Y.-based WIVB Channel 4 reported. But that could change, as the majority of labour disruptions began on the Atlantic coast this morning and is now moving west, the union said.

The talks are said to be complex because they encompass bargaining with six different PSAC sectors covering 26 occupational groups. Salaries have been the main sticking point in most cases.

The government had offered a six per-cent raise over three years, but the union wanted a nine per-cent increase, which had been recommended by a conciliation board drawn from both sides.

Also included in the PSAC alliance are about 10,000 operational service employees are labourers, trades people, search and rescue workers, firefighters, and coast guard workers, among others. And another 10,000 technical service workers, whose jobs include working in government labs and inspectors.

The last major PSAC strike hit in 1991, when 100,000 striking clerical workers and secretaries paralysed the public sector. Union members were legislated back by the Mulroney government.

— with files from Canadian Press