(Updating with results of strike authorization vote).<\/p>\n
Members of Canada\u2019s International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have voted in favor of a strike should the union and maritime employers not come to terms over a new coastwide contract.<\/p>\n
The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) said in a statement Monday that ILWU Canada has \u201cconfirmed a mandate in favor of a strike action if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The authorization, which was voted on last week, comes one day ahead of talks scheduled for Tuesday on a new collective bargaining agreement covering the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert. The Canadian government\u2019s Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) will oversee the talks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe BCMEA remains committed to bargaining in good faith and seeking a fair and balanced deal that recognizes the expertise of the waterfront workforce, while ensuring West Coast ports remain competitive, resilient and affordable for all Canadians,\u201d BCMEA\u2019s first statement said.<\/p>\n
The prior five-year agreement between the two sides expired at the end of March,<\/p>\n
In response to a potential strike, the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA) asked the federal government in a letter last week to do all it can to avert a work stoppage.<\/p>\n
CIFFA warned that a disruption at Vancouver, Canada\u2019s largest port, could cost more than the estimated C$40 million to C$100 million per week from similar job actions at the smaller Port of Montreal. The group added that its members are already dealing with the fallout of separate longshore work disruptions of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe continued challenges south of our border, where labor actions at ports on the West Coast have forced the closure of some terminals, disrupting supply chains and creating instability and uncertainty, make it even more difficult for Canadian businesses to export or import,\u201d CIFFA\u2019s letter said. \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating that instead of taking advantage of the unreliability of US ports, to the benefit of workers and firms, we are instead imitating them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Cooling off\u2019 end June 21<\/p>\n
Should union members go ahead with a strike, the soonest it could happen would be June 24, following a 72-hour notice that would be given at the June 21 end of the \u201ccooling-off\u201d period mandated by the FMCS.<\/p>\n
Along with wage increases, the talks are centering around plans to build a new container terminal in Vancouver, the proposed Roberts Bank 2, and how potential automation might impact longshore labor demand.<\/p>\n
Source:<\/p>\n
Angell, M. (2023, June 12). Update: ILWU Canada votes to strike if contract talks fail<\/i>. Journal of Commerce. https:\/\/www.joc.com\/article\/update-ilwu-canada-votes-strike-if-contract-talks-fail_20230612.html<\/p>\n (Updating with results of strike authorization vote). Members of Canada\u2019s International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have voted in favor of a strike should the union and maritime employers not come to terms over a new coastwide contract. The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) said in a statement Monday that ILWU Canada has \u201cconfirmed …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[86,84],"class_list":["post-2660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-canadian-ports","tag-maritime"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2660"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2661,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2660\/revisions\/2661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}