Close X
Wednesday, November 6, 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 who steals police vehicle denied bail

Man who steals police vehicle denied bail
The man accused of stealing a Vancouver police vehicle and using it to do doughnuts on a local sports field has been denied bail. The man was arrested on October 6th, when he allegedly stole a police S-U-V and took it for a joyride on a grass field at a park in East Vancouver. 

Man who steals police vehicle denied bail

Police watchdog called after fatal shooting in Penticton

Police watchdog called after fatal shooting in Penticton
Mounties in British Columbia's southern Interior say they've notified the provincial police watchdog after a confrontation that left one man dead and an officer injured. Penticton RCMP say they received multiple 911 calls Tuesday reporting a man acting erratically and allegedly waving a knife. 

Police watchdog called after fatal shooting in Penticton

Quick Quotes: What Liberal MPs have to say as the caucus debates Trudeau's future

Quick Quotes: What Liberal MPs have to say as the caucus debates Trudeau's future
"There's a — what would you call it? Some palace drama going on right now. And that takes us away from the number 1 job, which is focusing on Canadians and focusing on the important policies but also on showing the really clear contrast between our government, our party and Pierre Poilievre."

Quick Quotes: What Liberal MPs have to say as the caucus debates Trudeau's future

BoC delivers half percentage point rate cut to 3.75 per cent

BoC delivers half percentage point rate cut to 3.75 per cent
The Bank of Canada delivered a supersized interest rate cut Wednesday in response to the recent decline in inflation, bringing its key policy rate down by half a percentage point to 3.75 per cent. With annual price growth now around two per cent, the central bank says its job has shifted from lowering inflation to maintaining it around the inflation target.

BoC delivers half percentage point rate cut to 3.75 per cent

Youth stabbed at a Port Coquitlam Secondary School

Youth stabbed at a Port Coquitlam Secondary School
Police in Coquitlam are looking for witnesses after a youth was stabbed and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Mounties say the attack happened yesterday afternoon just before 3 p-m when officers responded to a report at Terry Fox Park in Port Coquitlam.

Youth stabbed at a Port Coquitlam Secondary School

Families call for inquiry after nine Indigenous people killed in police interactions

Families call for inquiry after nine Indigenous people killed in police interactions
A group of Black and Indigenous women say they want a national public inquiry into a recent spate of police-involved deaths, after nine Indigenous people were killed in interactions with police in August and September. About two dozen people gathered on Parliament Hill on Tuesday, including the families of eight people who died. 

Families call for inquiry after nine Indigenous people killed in police interactions