Close X
Saturday, November 23, 2024
ADVT 
National

Uncertainty at B.C. ports continues as possible deal emerges in labour dispute

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 21 Jul, 2023 09:49 AM
  • Uncertainty at B.C. ports continues as possible deal emerges in labour dispute

The uncertainty at British Columbia ports persists as a union local for workers says that a tentative agreement has been reached between a union bargaining committee and employers, the latest development in a tumultuous week in the high-stakes labour dispute.

A statement on the website of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada Local 502 says that a tentative agreement has been reached with the BC Maritime Employers Association, and the ILWU will hold an "emergency contract caucus" today to decide if the deal will be sent to the full union membership for ratification.

Neither the ILWU nor the BCMEA confirmed the latest development.

Meanwhile, work resumed in Vancouver at Canada's largest port on Thursday as ILWU returned on the job across the province after brief strike action on Tuesday.

This follows a week in the labour dispute that saw the union voting down a federal mediator's terms, the union issuing but quickly rescinding a new 72-hour strike notice, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convening the federal incident response group.

The union had rejected a previous tentative deal brokered by a federal mediator that would have ended the dispute, which already caused a 13-day work stoppage at B.C. ports earlier this month.

Workers went back to their jobs this week after the Canada Industrial Relations Board ruled the brief strike on Tuesday was illegal because 72 hours' notice had not been given.

Mark Thompson, University of British Columbia professor emeritus at the Sauder school of business, says while port strikes were common in the 1980s and 1990s, they weren't allowed to drag on, unlike the latest dispute. 

"The government (today) is very reluctant to enact back-to-work legislation, so we are in uncharted territory right now," he said.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was unacceptable that the union rejected the tentative deal worked out with a mediator that had been agreed to by both sides. 

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Suspicious fire at a Nanaimo home

Suspicious fire at a Nanaimo home
Two people in Nanaimo are unhurt but their home has smoke damage after what R-C-M-P say was a suspicious fire. It happened early yesterday morning south of Nanaimo in the Cinnabar Valley neighbourhood.

Suspicious fire at a Nanaimo home

Lightning sparks about 200 new wildfires across B.C. as heat grips Interior

Lightning sparks about 200 new wildfires across B.C. as heat grips Interior
The BC Wildfire Service is reporting more than 300 fires, with 87 spotted in the last 24 hours and almost 200 of the total number ranked as out of control.  B.C.'s wildfire danger was high to extreme across all but small pockets of the province on Monday.  

Lightning sparks about 200 new wildfires across B.C. as heat grips Interior

Trudeau says Canada will more than double military presence in Latvia

Trudeau says Canada will more than double military presence in Latvia
The two countries have signed a "road map" outlining the process. The document sets out three phases for the work, which will eventually involve as many as 2,200 persistently deployed Canadian troops plus the ability to add hundreds of additional Armed Forces members as needed. It states that brigade buildup will be completed in 2025, and that Latvia will work to build new infrastructure.

Trudeau says Canada will more than double military presence in Latvia

Two injured in possible road-rage shooting near busy downtown Toronto intersection

Two injured in possible road-rage shooting near busy downtown Toronto intersection
A shooting in downtown Toronto that sent two people to hospital with serious injuries Monday morning could be the result of road rage following street racing, police said as they worked to identify those responsible. Toronto police said they were called to 7 Charles Street West, just one block south of Toronto's busy Yonge and Bloor intersection, just after 6 a.m. for what they described as a drive-by shooting.

Two injured in possible road-rage shooting near busy downtown Toronto intersection

Surrey shooting leaves one dead

Surrey shooting leaves one dead
On Sunday at approximately 5:07 p.m., Surrey RCMP responded to a shooting in an alleyway north of 96 Avenue and 130 Street that has left one man deceased. Police are investigating whether a burnt out vehicle located a short time later in the area of 8200-block of 151A Street is connected to the homicide.  

Surrey shooting leaves one dead

Impasse at strikebound B.C. ports not broken by Saturday's round of negotiations

Impasse at strikebound B.C. ports not broken by Saturday's round of negotiations
Hundreds of supporters showed up to a rally in Vancouver backing striking B-C port workers. Speakers from as far away as Australia and New Zealand offered support for the thousands of workers who have been off the job since Canada Day.

Impasse at strikebound B.C. ports not broken by Saturday's round of negotiations