ONTARIO - CANADIAN customs officers in Sault Ste. Marie are protesting what they say is a long-running and severe problem with mice at their International Bridge headquarters.

About a dozen border guards walked off the job on Monday, saying the Canada Border Services Agency failed to respond to the rodent infestation.

Managers filled in for the missing members of the Customs Excise Union Local 26.

Union representative Sandy Lucio met with port chief of operations James Cameron, and the employees then resumed some of their duties at the Ontario-Michigan border crossing.

An agency representative says a contractor began work cleaning up the inspection booths on Tuesday. -- AP