Close X
Saturday, November 23, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. business groups urge end to port lockout as labour dispute halts shipping

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 Nov, 2024 05:14 PM
  • B.C. business groups urge end to port lockout as labour dispute halts shipping

British Columbia's businesses leaders are urging port employers and more than 700 unionized workers to resolve their dispute immediately as a lockdown paralyzes shipping along Canada's west coast.

The BC Maritime Employers Association says no negotiations are scheduled a day after it launched what it calls a defensive lockout against members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514.

Locked-out workers have begun picketing outside terminals around the province, most of them in Metro Vancouver but also including about 70 workers in Prince Rupert and 20 in Nanaimo.

Dozens of workers wearing signs and waving blue union flags have set up a tarp shelter with folding chairs at the entrance of Neptune Terminals in North Vancouver, B.C., cheering as passing vehicles honked in support.

Greater Vancouver Board of Trade president Bridgitte Anderson says the work stoppage at the Port of Vancouver — Canada's largest — comes at a critical time for the economy, and her organization is calling on the federal government to "intervene immediately."

BC Chamber of Commerce president Fiona Famulak is urging employers, the union and Ottawa to "diligently to find a resolution quickly” to avoid inflicting any more harm on the Canadian economy.

"The BC Chamber of Commerce supports the right to collective bargaining," Famulak said in a statement. "However, the inability of the ILWU and BCMEA to negotiate a new agreement and avoid another work stoppage at Canada’s largest port is disappointing.

"Our port infrastructure is too critical to the health and success of businesses and workers to have this dispute continue one moment longer."

The employers and the workers represented by Local 514 have been without a contract since March 2023.

The dispute is over issues including port automation being introduced by port terminal operator DP World and what it would mean for unionized worker staffing levels.

There had been several days of mediated talks last week in an attempt to break the deadlock, but a "final offer" from the employers resulted in the union responding with a notice for strike action, which prompted the employers to lock out workers starting Monday.

The union has called the provincewide lockout an overreaction to its plans for implementing only an overtime ban, adding that it believes the employers are trying to force the federal government to intervene.

The employers, meanwhile, said they had to lock out workers because a strike notice allows the union to escalate job action without notice.

The employers association also said its final offer — which remains on the table — included a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year agreement ending in 2027 and presented a fair deal "that recognizes the skills and efforts of 730 hard-working forepersons and their families."

The union said the offer did not address its concerns over minimum guaranteed staffing requirements, given that port automation has been introduced.

Union president Frank Morena has said the union's negotiators are ready to re-engage in talks at any time.

The lockout is the latest in a number of disruptions at the Port of Vancouver this year, with a work stoppage at both major national railways and pickets going up at grain terminals hindering shipping through the port in the summer and fall.

A 13-day strike froze trade through B.C. ports in July 2023.

Anderson said the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade launched a Port Shutdown Calculator during the 2023 work stoppage to illustrate the economic costs, and the web page had been relaunched in the latest dispute.

"It is imperative that the Canadian government prioritizes economic growth, supply chain, stability, trade and investment, particularly at this critical time," Anderson said, noting the U.S. presidential election and the likelihood of protectionist policies requiring Canada to up its game in the global trade market.

"We need to ensure that we show we have stable supply chains and that we are a reliable trading partner and that our economy is growing," she said. "That has not been the narrative over the last couple of years, and so it is very concerning."

The Board of Trade said the latest port shutdown would disrupt $800 million worth of goods daily, with every hour of the closure fuelling inflation.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Man pleads guilty to manslaughter in fatal Metro Vancouver school stabbing

Man pleads guilty to manslaughter in fatal Metro Vancouver school stabbing
A man charged in the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old in the parking lot of a Metro Vancouver high school two years ago has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Homicide investigators say the man, who cannot be identified because he was 17 at the time of the attack, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in provincial court in Surrey.

Man pleads guilty to manslaughter in fatal Metro Vancouver school stabbing

50 tonnes of 'fatbergs' removed from Richmond sewers, Metro Vancouver says

50 tonnes of 'fatbergs' removed from Richmond sewers, Metro Vancouver says
Workers in Metro Vancouver have chiselled away about 50 tonnes of so-called "fatbergs" that have clogged the sewer system and prompted a reminder to residents not to dump grease down the drain. 

50 tonnes of 'fatbergs' removed from Richmond sewers, Metro Vancouver says

Body found in Cowichan Bay

Body found in Cowichan Bay
Police on eastern Vancouver Island say they have found the body of a 26-year-old man in the waters of Cowichan Bay. R-C-M-P say the man was last seen Monday and reported missing on Wednesday.

Body found in Cowichan Bay

Man charged in child pornography

Man charged in child pornography
Police in New Westminster say a 45-year-old man has been charged with one count of possession of child pornography.  They say in a statement that the man was arrested last July and he's since been released from custody with several "strict" court-ordered conditions. 

Man charged in child pornography

Wind warning for B.C.'s south coast with gusts up to 90 km/h expected overnight

Wind warning for B.C.'s south coast with gusts up to 90 km/h expected overnight
Coastal British Columbia will see strong winds overnight with gusts that could reach speeds of between 90 and 110 kilometres per hour.  Warnings from Environment Canada span the Greater Victoria area, the southern Gulf Islands, eastern Vancouver Island, southern parts of Metro Vancouver and Haida Gwaii.

Wind warning for B.C.'s south coast with gusts up to 90 km/h expected overnight

New regulations allow Canada Post to ship prohibited firearms returned in gun buyback

New regulations allow Canada Post to ship prohibited firearms returned in gun buyback
The federal government is giving Canada Post the ability to store and transport prohibited firearms in new regulations that bring the retail gun buyback program one step closer to beginning. An order-in-council dated Oct. 16 allows for prohibited assault-style firearms to be removed from safes at firearms retailers, transported and ultimately destroyed. 

New regulations allow Canada Post to ship prohibited firearms returned in gun buyback