Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. ports shuttered as lockout takes hold in latest labour dispute

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 Nov, 2024 11:53 AM
  • B.C. ports shuttered as lockout takes hold in latest labour dispute

One of Canada's most vital trade arteries is cut off as employers at most of British Columbia's ports lock out their workers in a dispute involving about 700 unionized foremen. 

The BC Maritime Employers Association says it defensively locked out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 after the union began strike activity yesterday.

However, union president Frank Morena says the employers grossly overreacted to the union's original plan for an overtime ban, adding that its negotiators are ready to re-engage in talks at any time.

Canadian political and business leaders have expressed concern with another work stoppage at the ports, after job action from the big railways earlier this year and a 13-day strike in a separate labour dispute last year.

The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade says it is relaunching its Port Shutdown Calculator, a tool to illustrate the economic damage caused by the labour dispute and introduced during the job action last year. 

Board president Bridgitte Anderson says the latest port shutdown will disrupt $800 million worth of goods daily, with every hour of the closure fuelling inflation.

"This shutdown is the latest in a long line of highly damaging labour disputes that have hurt Canada’s economy and international reputation," Anderson says.

"Through the Port Shutdown Calculator, we want to demonstrate the profound and escalating impact of this labour dispute." 

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

MORE National ARTICLES

Jacob Hoggard now behind bars after appeal dismissed, lawyer says

Jacob Hoggard now behind bars after appeal dismissed, lawyer says
Jacob Hoggard's lawyers say the former Hedley frontman is now serving his sentence after Ontario's top court dismissed his appeal of his sexual assault conviction. The musician's legal team says he surrendered into custody before the ruling was delivered today.

Jacob Hoggard now behind bars after appeal dismissed, lawyer says

Broke and broken: Report says Canada's public transit in critical funding state

Broke and broken: Report says Canada's public transit in critical funding state
In a report published in late May, Leading Mobility Canada said the $120-billion in expansions planned for those transit systems won't help cities that are struggling to keep the buses and trains running at current levels.

Broke and broken: Report says Canada's public transit in critical funding state

Ottawa says U.S. move to tighten border rules for asylum seekers in line with law

Ottawa says U.S. move to tighten border rules for asylum seekers in line with law
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokesperson Matthew Krupovich said the changes "do not impact the terms of the (agreement) nor the criteria for an exemption or exception under the agreement."

Ottawa says U.S. move to tighten border rules for asylum seekers in line with law

2 people injured in rock climbing incident

2 people injured in rock climbing incident
B-C Emergency Health Services say two people were taken to hospital by helicopter from a rock climbing area in Squamish yesterday.  Brain Twaites, public information officer with the B-C E-H-S says the agency received a call before 1 p.m. about people in need of medical assistance in the Squamish region. 

2 people injured in rock climbing incident

Man dies in Whalley

Man dies in Whalley
Surrey R-C-M-P are asking witnesses to contact them after a man died in the Whalley neighbourhood Wednesday night.  The R-C-M-P says officers received a call from B-C Emergency Health Services at 6:40 p.m. on Wednesday and they located an unresponsive man who had fallen while lleaving a transit bus.

Man dies in Whalley

The costs of a Metro Vancouver SkyTrain extension jump by $1.9B and it's a year late

The costs of a Metro Vancouver SkyTrain extension jump by $1.9B and it's a year late
The total cost of building the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension in Metro Vancouver has soared by $2 billion and the project has been delayed for a year. The Transportation Ministry says in a statement the budget of the 16-kilometre extension of the SkyTrain into Langley is now estimated at $5.996 billion, up from the original $4 billion projected. 

The costs of a Metro Vancouver SkyTrain extension jump by $1.9B and it's a year late