It would make a tremendous difference. I can tell you that right now, having been without a contract for two years and being at the negotiating table sitting across from our employer, the answer to absolutely everything has simply been no. It has been so abysmal that we have not even been given a wage offer, to give you an idea of the level of disrespect.
Here we are with mediation coming up on Monday and on the verge of a strike, and our employer has refused to talk to us about anything whatsoever. Our members work incredibly difficult jobs. They are horribly understaffed. Three thousand is a fairly conservative estimate of how many more people we need. We have ports of entry where five years ago 20 people were working and they're down to five or six. They work almost unlimited overtime. We make up 3% of the federal public service at the CBSA, and we account for 20% of the overtime budget, to give you an idea of the hours they are working to keep our borders running. They do it with pride. They do not want to go on strike.
We want to be negotiating with someone who actually speaks to us and understands the issues—our issues—and demands at the bargaining table for parity with the rest of law enforcement, such as being able to retire after 25 years like all the rest of law enforcement. The CBSA wonders why they have staffing issues with recruitment and retention. The tag line seems to be “Come to the CBSA; we will pay you less and you have to work longer”. That's not a great way to attract or keep people.