(The Journal of Commerce) Note that while PSAC does represent administrativie and program staff
employed by CBSA, it is not employees from this group that serve as customs officers; customs officers are, technically speaking, not on strike. Striking public servants for the third day in a row delayed truck traffic heading into Canada by as much as three hours while negotiators remained optimistic a deal
could be reached soon on a new contract.
"We have picketers at the Queenston, Ont.-Lewiston, N.Y. bridge and at the Peace Bridge (Buffalo-Fort Erie, Ont.), with wait times of two hours at Queenston-Lewiston
and one hour at the Peace Bridge at 10 a.m.," spokeswoman Jean D'Amelio Swyer said. "They are mostly targeting commercial traffic."
At the Blue Water bridge linking Port Huron, Mich., with Point
Edward, Ont., the second busiest road crossing between the two countries, protesters by 10 a.m. had slowed wait times to two hours.
The busiest crossing, the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ont.,
at 10 a.m. had minor delays of 30 minutes.
By 1 p.m. delays had increased to three hours at Blue Water, two hours at the Peace Bridge and Queenston, and lesser times elsewhere.
Trucks heading into the U.S. encountered no delays.
The 150,000-member Public Service Alliance of Canada and government negotiators last night reached agreement with the third of five groups of public servants on
strike, after stalled negotiations resumed at the beginning of last weekend. An agreement, still to be ratified by members in a vote, provided wage increases of 10 percent over four years for 25,000 tax workers. Two
other groups had settled earlier.
Negotiations resumed at 10 a.m. today with a group representing 10,000 technicians, and the 76,000-member program and administrative services group which includes those working
at border crossings. Suzanne Meunier, spokeswoman for the Treasury Board said, "We're very optimistic again. We hope to get a settlement today."
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