Guards vow to 'shut the border down' as tensions soar during Toronto Pearson Airport protest
Border guards vowed to “shut the border down” — or come as close to it as they legally can — at a demonstration at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport Monday.
The demonstration was a show of resolve before the unions that represent some 8500 Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) officers and customs officials are in a legal right to strike position on Friday.
“We screened every traveller for COVID, we kept the border running, our employer won’t even speak to us at the bargaining table,” said Mark Weber, the national president of the Customs and Immigration Union.
That union, and the Public Service Alliance of Canada, say they have the right to strike as of August 6, just days before Canada reopens its borders to vaccinated U.S. travellers.
“We’ve been without a contract for three years,” said Frances Baroutoglou, Toronto’s CIU France president. “Through COVID we’ve continued to keep the border safe. We’ve taken on extra duties. We want a fair contract.”
Dozens of workers, wearing sandwich boards and carrying banners, chanted, “Shut it down! Shut it down!” as they walked around an entrance to the airport Monday afternoon.
“Come Friday, we’re going to wreak havoc on the border,” said Baroutoglou in to the microphone.
It’s not yet clear what the union’s strategy will be if it comes to a strike. There are more than 1200 entry points across Canada that could see an impact.
But despite the rhetoric, many border workers could be deemed essential, meaning they could slow, but not stop, their work.
“The borders will function but there will be a disruption,” Baroutoglou said in an interview. “We’ll be in a position where we can work to rule. Doing our job but only to the letter of the law.”
At issue, according to a public interest commission report, is wages. The employer has posed 2.8, 2.2, and 1.5 per cent increases in the first three years of a settlement.
It says that’s in line with 50 recent settlements in the public service.
But the unions want 4.4 per cent on top of that, arguing they need to catch up to other law enforcement agencies like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The employer rejects the comparison.
Other issues include reducing on-the-job harassment, giving time to practice with firearms, and a guarantee no officer will work alone.
“We need to make sure people feel safe at work,” said Baroutoglou.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.