Customs officer union demands more hires as travel turbulence continues

The federal border agency is not moving fast enough to fill staff shortages that have bogged down airport traffic and revved up passenger frustration, says the union representing customs officers. “With no end in sight to delays affecting travellers at airports and border crossings across the country, it's clear the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has no plan to get travel back on track any time soon,” the Customs and Immigration Union said in a release Monday. The federal government has been scrambling to respond to scenes of endless lines, flight delays and daily turmoil at airports, a problem the aviation industry - and now unions - blame on a shortage of federal security and customs agents. The agency's “summer action plan,” which imposes mandatory overtime and suspends non-essential training, amounts to “poorly planned half-measures” without long-term solutions, the union said. It is calling on the CBSA and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino to increase the number of border officers and commit to a long-term plan addressing travel delays amid the labour crunch. The union's demand for between 1,000 and 3,000 more hires comes after it wrapped up its first round of bargaining with Ottawa over a new collective agreement. The negotiations kicked off on the cusp of peak travel season, with problems of clogged airports and border crossings poised to increase.<br/>