Cdn. labour minister asks mediator for final terms to end B.C. port strike
Under the current dispatch system, longshore workers have insecure working schedules and must wait several years to qualify for benefits.
Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan has given a federal mediator 24 hours to send him recommended terms to end the British Columbia port strike that has snarled cargo in about 30 ports and spurred fears of supply chain chaos across Canada.
O’Regan said in a statement issued late on Jul. 11 that the gap between the positions of employers and the port workers union in the 11-day-old strike is “not sufficient to justify a continued work stoppage.”
He said that once he has received the terms from the mediator, he will forward them to both sides and they will have another 24 hours to decide whether to ratify the principles of the deal.
About 7,400 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada have been on strike since July 1, halting cargo in and out of ports in B.C., including Canada’s largest, the Port of Vancouver.
The workers say they’re fighting for protections against contracting out and automation, as well as pushing for higher wages.
The strike is starting to hit business operations in Canada.
Nutrien Ltd., for example, said on Jul. 11 that it has curtailed production at its Cory potash mine in Saskatchewan due to the strike.
The fertilizer producer said the strike has meant the loss of export capacity through Canpotex’s Neptune terminal. If the work stoppage continues, Nutrien warned it could affect production at its other potash mines in Saskatchewan.
O’Regan said a good deal is “within reach” for both the union and the BC Maritime Employers Association.
He said it was in the interests of all sides that an agreement is reached as soon as possible.
“The scale of this disruption shows how important the relationship between the BCMEA and the ILWU is to our national interest,” O’Regan said in the statement shared on Twitter.
“We cannot allow this work stoppage to persist and risk further damage to the relationship between these parties.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been among those pushing Ottawa to implement back-to-work legislation to end the strike.
Smith said it was going to have a huge impact on supply chains.
“We’re hearing that our producers are having to shut down and roll back their production. I’m hearing that across the board, whether it’s in agriculture, whether it’s in oil.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford estimated the strike was costing his province $160 million a day. He said he wanted the federal government to “put an end to this.”
“We need to get moving. I’m all for supporting the front-line workers, but you can’t hold the whole country hostage,” he said.
The study by economist Jim Stanford, director of Vancouver’s Centre for Future Work, said hourly wages for longshore workers are similar to wages for other skilled industrial jobs.
But under the current dispatch system, longshore workers have insecure working schedules and must wait several years to qualify for benefits.
Stanford said that in recent years, wages in the sector lagged behind B.C.’s rising cost of living, with the real purchasing power of longshore wages falling 2.5 per cent since 2017.
“Clearly, labour is not the source of rising costs in marine shipping, and the resulting inflation,” said Stanford, whose study was commissioned by the ILWU Canada.
