Long-haul drivers in B.C. are prepared to keep on trucking if Canadian border workers strike.
More than 9,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) who work for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) have voted overwhelmingly for a strike mandate.
This could lead to significant disruptions to the flow of goods, services, and people at Canadian ports of entry during the busy summer season, but the BC Trucking Association says British Columbians don’t need to worry.
The BC Trucking Association president, Dave Earle told CityNews that goods will likely still get where they need to.
“We do anticipate some disruptions, should [the strike] come to pass, but I don’t think it’s going to be significant enough that the average consumer will see them,” said Earle.
In the past, Earle said, CBSA service disruptions have affected the “travelling public,” more acutely than commercial border crossings.
He added that the effects of a strike are different every time, but truck drivers in B.C. are prepared to adjust to changes.
Earle said delays can “be built into and addressed within the supply chain itself.”
He said businesses that run on “just-in-time deliveries,” will most have to brace for the impact of a strike.
—With files from Lauryn Heintz, Aastha Pandey-Kanaan and Sonia Aslam