Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. port strike enters day five, with talks deadlocked over maintenance

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 Jul, 2023 11:47 AM
  • B.C. port strike enters day five, with talks deadlocked over maintenance

Talks between maritime employers and the union representing British Columbia port workers remain deadlocked over maintenance issues as a strike by the workers enters its fifth day.

Both sides have issued statements singling out a maintenance deal as the reason talks stalled Monday, leaving more than 7,000 workers at 30 ports across B.C. on strike since Saturday morning.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada says its jurisdiction over maintenance is being eroded by the use of contractors, and the key issue is the refusal of employers to agree to "one sentence" of a maintenance document.

The BC Maritime Employers Association meanwhile says the union is trying to "aggressively expand" its control of maintenance duties far beyond an agreement that the association says has been "legally well established for decades."

It says union workers are already unable to fulfil duties they have jurisdiction over, and changing the rules would have "immediate and significant impacts" at ports.

Business organizations as well as officials in both Alberta and Saskatchewan have called on Ottawa to step in and end the strike, but federal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan says he wants the union and employers to go back to the negotiating table.

MORE National ARTICLES

"A preoccupation with failure." Why the Titan submersible was doomed from the start

Jack Rozdilsky, a professor at York University in Toronto,  says OceanGate's business — ferrying paying passengers to the floor of the North Atlantic — could be compared to the immensely risky work of companies that launch space flights, drill for offshore oil, fight wildfires or operate nuclear power plants.

"A preoccupation with failure." Why the Titan submersible was doomed from the start

Joly concerned for safety of India's diplomats, calls protest poster 'unacceptable

Joly concerned for safety of India's diplomats, calls protest poster 'unacceptable
The poster is the latest in a string of problems in recent weeks that have increased tension between Ottawa and New Delhi over Sikh separatists in Canada. A poster for the event circulating on social media includes photos of India's top two diplomats in Canada — High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and Toronto Consul General Apoorva Srivastava — and refers to them as "the faces of Niijar's killers in Toronto."

Joly concerned for safety of India's diplomats, calls protest poster 'unacceptable

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelling to Latvia and NATO summit in Lithuania

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelling to Latvia and NATO summit in Lithuania
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to Europe next week for the annual NATO leaders' summit. The two-day summit in Lithuania starts July 11 and comes as the alliance has agreed to extend the term of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg by another year.  

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelling to Latvia and NATO summit in Lithuania

Several students stranded at Vancouver airport after Air India flight to Delhi cancelled

Several students stranded at Vancouver airport after Air India flight to Delhi cancelled
One of the students, speaking anonymously, stated, "On July 1, around 9 p.m., we received an email from Air India informing us of a five-hour delay, and the new departure time was set for 2.45 p.m. However, when we arrived at the airport, we discovered that the flight had been delayed for an additional hour."

Several students stranded at Vancouver airport after Air India flight to Delhi cancelled

Fierce blaze damages several businesses, forces evacuation in downtown Vernon, B.C.

Fierce blaze damages several businesses, forces evacuation in downtown Vernon, B.C.
The single-storey complex has been heavily damaged, prompting the owner of the Okanagan Eatery, one of the affected businesses, to post a photo of the flames online, writing, "Wow, no words. Guess that's it."

Fierce blaze damages several businesses, forces evacuation in downtown Vernon, B.C.

Evacuation alerts end for Kelowna, B.C., residents as wildfire under control

Evacuation alerts end for Kelowna, B.C., residents as wildfire under control
Residents in the Poplar Point, Knox Mountain, Magic Estates and Clifton areas near the fire were under an evacuation order on Canada Day that was later downgraded to an alert as crews fought the flames. Kelowna RCMP assisted with an evacuation of more than 400 properties.

Evacuation alerts end for Kelowna, B.C., residents as wildfire under control