By Robb M. Stewart
OTTAWA--Employers at ports in British Columbia will lock out unionized supervisors, a move that threatens to freeze trade on Canada's West Coast and add to supply chains disruptions.
Members of the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association will begin the lockout late Monday afternoon in what the group said was a defensive response to industrial action begun earlier in the day by members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union local 514. The lockout is part of efforts to wind down port operations, though it won't apply to grain or cruise-ship activities.
The union described a closure of the waterfront with a full-scale lockout as an overreaction to limited job action and an overtime ban by its members.
A work stoppage puts at risk about 800 million Canadian dollars, the equivalent of US$573 million, a day in trade that flows through West Coast ports, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade said. The business association called on the federal government to intervene in the dispute to avoid a shutdown that could lead to higher prices for Canadians at a time when the economy is struggling.
Trade in Canada has been dented by a number of labor disputes in recent months. Hundreds of dockworkers at two terminals at the Port of Montreal went on strike at the end of October, shuttering about 40% of container traffic at the country's second largest seaport, where members of the port's longshore union have also halted overtime work in an effort to force employers to resume stalled talks over a new pay deal. In late September, grain-terminal workers at the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia ended a four-day strike that halted crop exports after reaching a settlement with employers.
The British Columbia employers group said the action by the union's roughly 730 members, including their refusal to participate in technological change, had already begun to affect waterfront operations in the province. A lockout forepersons and other local 514 members was needed to confront what it said was tremendous uncertainty and operational and safety challenges for operators, since Canada's labor code has no restrictions that would prevent an escalation from an overtime ban to a full-scale walkout without notice.
Talks to reach a new contract failed last year and again in January, this summer and with a federal mediator in October. Local 514 members, whose last contract expired at the end of March 2023, voted in September to authorize strike action if necessary following what the union said was an attempt by employers to lower existing staffing levels at British Columbia ports.
The employers association last week made a final offer for a four-year agreement with a 19% wage increase, including 5% raises in the first and second years and 4% increases in subsequent years. The offer, which it said remains open, also included an average C$21,000 lump-sum payment and increases in the retirement benefit and meal allowance for workers.
Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon over the weekend said federal mediators were on site and ready to assist with reaching a new collective agreement. Businesses, workers and farmers are counting on the two sides to reach a deal, he said in a statement posted on social-media site X.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 04, 2024 14:51 ET (19:51 GMT)
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