Canada Port Strike Back on

The strike at 30 Canadian West Coast ports is back on.

Just five days after 7,400 union dockworkers and their maritime employers agreed to a tentative four-year deal that presumably ended 13 days of work stoppages, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada voted down the recommended settlement terms offered by Canada’s federal mediator.

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As of Tuesday afternoon, the ILWU Canada longshore division went back on the picket line, according to a statement from union president Rob Ashton.

Ashton said the union’s longshore caucus did not believe the recommendations had the ability to protect the workers’ jobs “now or into the future,” noting that the four years of the term were “far too long” when accounting for the uncertainty across global financial markets.

“Our position since day one has been to protect our jurisdiction and this position has not changed,” Ashton said. “With the record profits that the BCMEA’s member companies have earned over the last few years the employers have not addressed the cost of living issues that our workers have faced over the last couple of years as all workers have.”

In a statement, the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) said that caucus leadership rejected the tentative agreement before it was even taken to a vote by the full union membership.

The BCMEA, which represents 49 marine terminals and ocean carriers operating in the Canadian province, said the tentative deal included “considerable” hikes in wages and benefits over and above an approximate 10 percent increase received over the past three years.

According to the employers, the settlement also included specific provisions that addressed the union’s concern regarding contracting out work and measures to improve training, recruitment and retention of ILWU trade workers now and in the future.

Costs of living and the outsourcing of contract work were two of the three major talking points among ILWU Canada as the union also shared concerns about the increasing impacts of automation.

The BCMEA said it agreed to provide benefit coverage for all casual trade workers, a tool allowance that enables workers to purchase the equipment they prefer, as well as a commitment to increase apprentices in the industry by 15 percent.

“Throughout the past five months, the BCMEA has continued to advance reasonable proposals and positions in good faith with the urgent objective of making progress, reaching a fair deal, and ensuring ports are open and supply chains are stable and reliable,” said the BCMEA union statement. “We strongly believe the tentative four-year agreement fairly recognized the skills and efforts of B.C.’s waterfront workforce, while allowing for the safe restoration of critical cargo operations for all Canadians.’

At around 5 p.m. PT on Tuesday, picketing workers had returned to the BCMEA dispatch office near the Port of Vancouver, according to the CBC. Chants of “an injury to one, an injury to all” and “one day longer, one day stronger” were heard from ILWU members.

Bridgitte Anderson, president of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said in a statement that she was “dismayed and disappointed” that the strike had resumed.

“We are greatly concerned about the impacts the continuation of the strike will have on Canada’s international reputation as a reliable trade partner,” Anderson said. “In less than two weeks, business across Canada were facing shortages, temporary layoffs, and, in some cases, total shutdowns.”

When talks between the ILWU and the BCMEA stalled, Canadian Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan called on federal mediator Peter Simpson to propose a new contract. Pressure had been mounting as North American trade groups called for the federal government to enforce back-to-work legislation.

Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada’s opposition Conservative Party, criticized both O’Regan and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for failing to solve the dispute.

A port shutdown calculator published by a group of Canadian trade associations the day the strike was called off said an estimated $9.9 billion in trade had been disrupted since the stoppage began July 1. The Royal Bank of Canada estimated that 63,000 shipping containers were still waiting to be unloaded at the B.C. ports.

Even when the strike was off, estimates indicated that longer-term impacts would continue all summer long.

According to an estimate from the Railway Association of Canada, it would have taken three to five days for every day the strike lasted for networks and supply chains to recover. Prior to the 13-day strike’s initial pause, that would have taken until late August to late September.

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