Minnesota monitors possible Canadian border agent strike

Minnesota exported $7 billion in goods to Canada in 2023
Pigs, feed, cattle and farm equipment move across the border
Canadian agents seeking better pay and benefits

Updated: May 28, 2024 / 04:59 PM CDT

This photo provided by the Minnesota State Patrol shows pigs running loose on a metro highway after a semitrailer truck that was carrying them overturned, causing an hours-long shutdown Friday morning, June 9, 2023, in Little Canada, Minn. (Minnesota State Patrol via AP)

(NewsNation) — Minnesota state officials are monitoring a brewing dispute between Canadian border agents and the Canadian government that could significantly alter how goods are moved across the U.S. northern border should agents choose to strike.

Border agents are prepared to walk off the job as early as June after demanding better pay and benefits, the president of Canada’s Customs and Immigration Union told CBS News Minnesota.

Mark Weber, the president of the union, told the station that 96% of union border agents approved to move to strike should their demands not be met.

But for Minnesotans, the strike could affect the state’s agricultural commerce business, Thom Petersen, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, told NewsNation on Tuesday.

Petersen said that during any given year, Canada is the state’s top agricultural trading partner along with Mexico and China. He said the border crossing between the U.S. and Canada has become a major hub for the trading of pigs, cattle, feed, corn, and farming equipment.

In 2023, Minnesota exported $7 billion in goods to Canada, which is the state’s largest export destination, according to federal data cited by CBS News Minnesota.

Petersen said that Gov. Tim Walz’s administration has maintained a strong working relationship with Canadian officials and the Consol General’s Office in Minneapolis. He told NewsNation that border crossing times would become the biggest concern should a strike take place.

Petersen said there is no estimate of how long delays could take should a strike take place. But he pointed to the between 500,000 and 1 million piglets that cross the border, mostly from Manitoba. He said that given their importance to the state’s commerce, delays could force the piglets to be held for longer periods on trucks, which could affect costs.

Weber estimates that should border agents strike, a crossing between Minnesota and Canada could take 10 hours, the television station reported.

Petersen said that state officials have requested more meetings with their Canadian counterparts as a possible strike date looms. Weber said that union border agents don’t want to strike as they “love serving Americans” and protecting Canadians.

“The government is fully committed to reaching a fair and reasonable agreement for border services employees,” Canadian officials said in an issued statement to CBS News Minnesota. “Employees have the right to strike, but at this time it is unnecessary. We are ready and willing to return to the bargaining table at any time.”