Month: <span>July 2023</span>

Canadian National Railway said it would take up to eight weeks to clear the cargo backlog from the 14 days of strike action at Western Canadian ports amid a weaker-than-expected peak season, while signaling some confidence that the longshore disruption is over as union members vote on the tentative deal reached last week.

“We are pleased to see an end to the work stoppage and we’re working hard to get those supply chains back in sync,” CN CEO Tracy Robinson said Tuesday during a second-quarter earnings call. “We expect to move most of the volumes that didn’t move during the first two weeks of July over the coming weeks.”

The result of the ratification vote by the rank and file of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada isn’t expected to be released until Saturday at the earliest, according to two people close to negotiations. The last three weeks have been marked by the whiplash of a 13-day strike, a tentative deal rejected by a union caucus, a one-day wildcat strike, a federal labor board ruling the one-day strike illegal, the union issuing and then retracting a strike notice for last weekend, and finally union leadership accepting terms of the new contract.

Those terms have not been publicly disclosed…

Details please refer to the news from JOC.

Source:

Szakonyi, M. (2023, July 26). Western Canada Port Backlog to take weeks to clear: Canadian national. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/western-canada-port-backlog-take-weeks-clear-canadian-national_20230726.html

Longshore workers and employers in Western Canada have reached a second deal on a tentative new contract, and a caucus of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada will decide later Friday whether to send the terms to its rank-and-file for ratification.

“There will be an emergency contract caucus on Friday … to vote on whether the tentative agreement will be sent to the membership for ratification,” ILWU Canada Local 502 said in a statement late Thursday.

The ILWU Canada caucus previously rejected an initial deal that was reached last week, setting off a chaotic string of events that included a brief strike Tuesday night, a federal labor board ruling that strike illegal, and then the union issuing — then retracting — a strike notice for this weekend.

The rollercoaster developments of the past three weeks, which began with a 13-day strike by ILWU Canada on July 1, have disrupted cargo handling at Vancouver, Canada’s largest port and a gateway to US and Canadian markets, and Prince Rupert, which likewise has extensive intermodal rail service to both markets.

The initial tentative contract between ILWU Canada and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) was reached with assistance from a federal mediator.

The initial tentative agreement called for a four-year contract, which ILWU Canada President Rob Ashton said was too long given the uncertainties in the international trade economy. ILWU Canada has also been pushing terminal operators to accept expanded union jurisdiction over mechanics jobs.

The July 1-13 ILWU strike and resulting vessel backlogs and inland supply chain disruptions have added to the woes of British Columbia ports that had already been feeling the effects of declining trade volumes. According to statistics from the ports, container volumes in Vancouver were down 13.8% through May and 27% lower in Prince Rupert.

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2023b, July 21). ILWU Canada Caucus to vote on New Tentative Longshore Contract deal. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/ilwu-canada-caucus-vote-new-tentative-longshore-contract-deal_20230721.html

Longshore workers at Western Canadian ports are returning to work – for now — after a labor board ruled that strike action taken Tuesday night by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada was illegal because the union failed to provide the required 72-hour notice.

But with the union subsequently giving that notice after the ruling by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, dockworkers are now poised to go on strike again on Saturday morning. The board ordered ILWU Canada to review potential damage claims with marine terminals over the strike action that was taken illegally Tuesday night.

The whiplash developments were set in motion late Tuesday when a caucus of ILWU Canada rejected the tentative labor agreement that last week ended the 13-day strike at the ports of Prince Rupert and Vancouver. The rejection came just five days after the end of the strike and as ports had begun to restore cargo flow after the disruption.

“The term of the collective agreement that was given with today’s uncertain times is far too long,” ILWU Canada President Rob Ashton said in a statement, referring to the four-year length of the tentative agreement meant to replace the contract that expired at the end of the March. “We must be able to readdress the uncertainty in the world’s financial markets for our members.”

ILWU Canada said it was remaining steadfast in seeking increased jurisdiction of maintenance work at marine terminals, noting that after achieving record profits in 2021 and 2022, employers had the financial resources to appropriately compensate workers for higher living costs.

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) bemoaned that the full ILWU Canada rank-of-file wasn’t able to vote on the tentative agreement. In rejecting the deal, ILWU Canada was “choosing to further harm Canada’s economy, international reputation, and most importantly, to Canadians, their livelihood and all those that rely on the stable supply chain,” BCMEA said in a statement late Tuesday.

Government ministers ‘looking at all options’

Canada’s ministers of Labor and Transport on Wednesday expressed grave disappointment in the union’s rejection of the agreement, saying they “are looking at all options” and would have more to share publicly on Thursday. The joint statement from Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the tentative agreement was a “fair and balanced deal,” and ports needed to be open.

Terms of the tentative deal were not disclosed.

Attention now turns to Canada’s Parliament to end the strike, as it did at the Port of Montreal in 2021.

When the strike began July 1, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Retail Council of Canada urged Parliament to order port workers back to work. But there is no guarantee of swift passage of the legislation Parliament must pass for that to happen. It will likely take a coalition from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party and the Conservative Party to overcome the Democratic Party’s objections to any back-to-work legislation.

Parliament is currently in recess, having begun its summer break in June.

Source:

Szakonyi, M. (2023, July 19). Longshore workers at Western Canadian ports returning to work, for now. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/longshore-workers-western-canadian-ports-returning-work-now_20230719.html

July 18 (Reuters) – Dock workers at ports along Canada’s Pacific coast rejected a tentative four-year wage deal agreed with their employers last week and returned to the picket line, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) said on Tuesday.

The ILWU represents some 7,500 dock workers, who walked off the job on July 1 after failing to reach a new work contract with the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), which represents the companies involved.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the ILWU said its members had voted down the recommended terms of settlement because they did not believe the terms would protect their jobs.

“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,” the ILWU said in its statement…

Detail please refer to the news.

Source:

Williams, N. (2023, July 19). Canada port strike resumes after union members reject wage agreement. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-port-workers-return-picket-line-after-rejecting-wage-agreement-2023-07-18/

It could take into September before the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert fully recover from the 13-day dockworker strike that idled both western Canadian ports and disrupted trans-Pacific sailing schedules, industry observers told the Journal of Commerce Friday.

The strike ended Thursday when the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (Canada) and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association agreed on terms for a tentative four-year contract.

But forwarders, shipping lines and trucking interests say they are advising their customers it will take weeks — possibly into September — for operations at Prince Rupert and Vancouver — Canada’s largest port — to return to normal.

The rule of thumb in the port and marine terminal industry is that for each day a port is shut down, it takes three to five days to recover, Julia Kuzeljevich, director of policy and communications at the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association, told the Journal of Commerce.

“Maybe end of summer, early September,” Kuzeljevich said when assessing the timeline for a full recovery of the ports.

Views on the recovery period vary, but it is clearly not a matter of days.

“We look at it in weeks — three weeks to recover for every week of [a] shutdown,” an executive at a carrier that calls at Vancouver said.

Given the fact that eastbound trans-Pacific volumes have been lighter than usual and Canada’s agricultural exports are not yet in high season, the time for recovery may be a bit shorter, the source said.

Still, David Bennett, chief commercial officer at Canadian forwarder Farrow, said he would be “surprised” if the recovery period is only four or five days per day of shutdown. Bennett said the actual recovery could take as long as 10 days per day of shutdown — more than four months — given how dependent Vancouver and Prince Rupert are on shipping containers via rail to their major hubs in Toronto, Montreal and Chicago.

He noted that Canadian railroads issued temporary bans on sending trains to the West Coast from day one of the dockworker strike, and it will take some time to reposition trains and cars to the ports.

“We anticipate it will be weeks before there is a return to normalcy,” Bennett said.

CPKC expects ‘prolonged’ recovery

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway (CPKC) said Friday it is working closely with customers and marine terminals to clear the traffic backlogs as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, “given the duration of this strike — nearly two weeks shutting down most terminals at Canada’s largest port — supply chain recovery is expected to be prolonged,” a CPKC spokesperson said.

A Canadian National Railway (CN) spokesperson said CN is “now focused on implementing its orderly resumption plans to resume its movements to and from the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.”

David Earle, president and CEO of the British Columbia Trucking Association (BCTA), said two-thirds of the containers moving through Vancouver leave by rail, and clearing that backlog while receiving new inbound containers will take “weeks and weeks.” According to the Port of Vancouver website, rail container dwell times at all four of its container terminals were more than seven days, a level that is normally not reached.

As for truck gate traffic, Earle said BCTA members did not report any serious bottlenecks early Friday, although Vancouver did not reopen until Thursday’s evening shift.

A spokesperson at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said the port will apply a priority-based anchorage allocation system to balance the needs of all business sectors and commodities. Fourteen container ships were backed up outside of Vancouver when the strike ended Thursday.

“Recovery measures include close collaboration and monitoring to ensure port resources are assigned to best support time-sensitive cargo movement and ensure equitable distribution of shared resources,” the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for the Prince Rupert Port Authority said operations there resumed Thursday evening and continued on Friday’s day shift, with both berths at the Fairview Container Terminal expected to be occupied.

“Operations have ramped up,” the spokesperson said. “The terminal is expecting to depart additional trains to begin the process of clearing backlogged cargo.” In addition to the two vessels at berth, three additional container ships were holding offshore Prince Rupert.

Source:

Mongelluzzo, B. (2023, July 14). Post-strike recovery for Western Canadian ports measured in weeks, not days: Sources. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/post-strike-recovery-western-canadian-ports-measured-weeks-not-days-sources_20230714.html

The 13-day longshore strike that hit the Western Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert ended Thursday after the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada and waterfront employers reached a deal on a tentative four-year contract.

The end of the strike came less than two days after Canada’s Minister of Labour ordered the federal mediator overseeing negotiations between the union and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association to provide recommendations for a settlement. Those recommendations were presented to both sides on Wednesday, and they had 24 hours, or late morning Pacific time Thursday, to accept or reject the proposed terms. Rejection by either side would have forced the matter into the hands of the Canadian Parliament.

“The tentative agreement is subject to ratification by both parties, and subsequently, details of the agreement will not be released at this time,” the BCMEA said in a statement.

It added that it was “working closely with ILWU Canada and their locals and supply chain partners to safely resume operations as soon as possible.”

Marine terminals at Vancouver and Prince Rupert were scheduled to reopen for Thursday’s evening shift.

ILWU Canada was not immediately available for comment.

Working to restore terminal operations

The strike caused multiple ships to divert from Western Canada to Seattle and Tacoma, while also prompting at least two blank sailings. It also created a vessel backlog off Vancouver and Prince Rupert. There were 14 container ships at anchor or offshore at the Port of Vancouver Wednesday, according to the port’s website.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority said in a statement Thursday two of its seven terminals — DP World Prince Rupert’s Fairview Container Terminal and Drax’s Westview Wood Pellet Terminal – were “directly impacted” by the strike. PRPA added that five vessels are waiting at anchor or at sea to discharge at those terminals.

“PRPA, its terminal and rail supply chain partners and local labor will be working closely to re-establish fluidity and productivity so that we can begin to swiftly and effectively recover operations at the Port of Prince Rupert,” it said.

BCMEA said it “regrets the significant impact” the strike had on workers, customers and the Canadian economy. Earlier this week, the group said an estimated C$800 million of cargo was being disrupted daily by the longshore strike, representing 25% of the country’s total traded goods each day.

“We must collectively work together to not only restore cargo operations as quickly and safely as possible but to also rebuild the reputation of Canada’s largest gateway and ensure supply chain stability and resilience for the future,” BCMEA said.

Source:

JOC Staff. (2023, July 13). Western Canada port strike ends after deal reached on tentative four-year contract. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/western-canada-port-strike-ends-after-deal-reached-tentative-four-year-contract_20230713.html