Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. cargo flow should be back to normal in days after port strike, says researcher

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 14 Jul, 2023 12:17 PM
  • B.C. cargo flow should be back to normal in days after port strike, says researcher

A logistics researcher says it should take only days for cargo flow to return to pre-strike levels at B.C. ports after a 13-day work stoppage ended with a tentative deal.

But Simon Fraser University Prof. Peter V. Hall says the port employers need to work with the union on significant long-term "structural changes" such as training to deal with the onset of automation.

Hall says he hopes the tentative agreement between the B.C. Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada that was announced Thursday includes some sort of commitment towards that goal, since ports including Vancouver will face challenges on that front.

Port workers were back on the job Thursday afternoon, with the BCMEA saying more than 500 were being dispatched at Vancouver's inner harbour by 8 a.m. today.

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority's operations dashboard this morning shows the Centerm, Vanterm, Deltaport and Fraser Surrey terminals all "operating normally," with truck waiting times for loading and unloading ranging from 20 minutes to one hour and 13 minutes.

The union, which represents 7,400 workers in the job action that began July 1, has not yet commented on the pact. 

The agreement, which the BCMEA says lasts four years, is subject to ratification by members of both the union and the maritime employers, and no additional details have been released.

Federal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan said Thursday that the strike that had snarled trade worth billions was over and thanked both sides.

But he and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a statement that the extent of the disruption showed the importance of the relationship between industry and labour, and that Canada's "supply chains and our economy depend on it."

The tentative agreement to end the strike came after O'Regan ordered a mediator to issue terms for a settlement, saying the gap in the deadlocked talks was "not sufficient to justify a continued work stoppage."

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Deadly crash in the Okanagan

Deadly crash in the Okanagan
The B-C Highway Patrol says it's investigating a deadly crash involving a pedestrian in the Okanagan over the Canada Day long weekend.  Police say they were called to the crash around noon last Saturday, where a car hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk on Highway 97-A in Enderby, B-C. 

Deadly crash in the Okanagan

Heat wave to hit BC

Heat wave to hit BC
Fraser Heath says a coming heat wave is set to hit B-C's Fraser Canyon, warning of temperatures forecasted to hit the mid-30s into the weekend. The health authority says Environment and Climate Change Canada's heat warning covers the communities of Lytton, North Bend, Boston Bar, Yale, Othello and Sunshine Valley.   

Heat wave to hit BC

Surrey RCMP say one person injured in shooting, believed linked to drug trade

Surrey RCMP say one person injured in shooting, believed linked to drug trade
One person is being treated in hospital for a non-life-threatening injury after a shooting in Surrey, B.C., Wednesday afternoon. Police were called to the 80 Avenue and Fleetwood Park area just before 6 p.m. for reports of two groups of men shooting at each other.

Surrey RCMP say one person injured in shooting, believed linked to drug trade

Victims of fatal 2021 B.C. library stabbing describe shattered lives at sentencing

Victims of fatal 2021 B.C. library stabbing describe shattered lives at sentencing
Yannick Bandaogo, 30, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and several attempted murder charges earlier this year. Several victims spoke before Justice Geoffrey R.J. Gaul of the B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday, including the mother of the lone victim killed in the attack.  

Victims of fatal 2021 B.C. library stabbing describe shattered lives at sentencing

B.C. health registry expansion aims to connect patients with family doctors: minister

B.C. health registry expansion aims to connect patients with family doctors: minister
Health Minister Adrian Dix says the expanded Health Connect Registry, which launched July 1, aims to make it easier for B.C. patients to get a family doctor or nurse practitioner in their community by signing up for a primary-care provider.

B.C. health registry expansion aims to connect patients with family doctors: minister

Delta woman charged with fraud

Delta woman charged with fraud
31-year-old Tarndeep Uppal, of North Delta, has been charged with one count of theft of credit card and identity information. Fourteen counts of fraud under $5000. Uppal has been released with conditions not to possess credit cards, identification or data in any other name but her own.

Delta woman charged with fraud