Canada West Coast Strike Ends

ILWU Canada Votes To Accept Port Labor Agreement

Excerpted from Reuters.com, August 5, 2023, by David Ljunggren

Dock workers in western Canada voted to accept an improved labor contract after a month-long dispute that affected trade and disrupted operations at the country’s busiest ports, their union said on Friday.

The vote was 74.66% in favor of the terms of the settlement, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) said in a statement.

Disagreements in contract negotiations have disrupted billions of dollars in trade, raising concerns about fueling inflation.

The union provisionally agreed to a new contract on Sunday, averting an immediate strike, but the agreement needed to be approved by workers.

The government had directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to resolve the dispute after workers rejected a previous contract. Ottawa was seeking to keep two of Canada’s three busiest ports – Vancouver and Prince Rupert – open.

Canada’s Minister Of Labour Seamus O’Regan and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) confirmed that the ILWU had ratified the deal.

B.C. port dispute ends as workers vote to accept new deal

Excerpted from CBC.ca, June 6

Nearly 75 per cent of union members voted to approve the tentative agreement

Port workers in British Columbia have accepted a new tentative deal with their employers, bringing an end to a tumultuous, weeks-long contract dispute that has paralyzed industries and supply chains across Canada.

Late on Friday, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) says the vast majority of its more-than-7,400 members voted to ratify a deal reached with help from the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).

The two-day vote closed at 6 p.m. PT on Friday.

“The results of the ratification vote for the tentative agreement show 74.66 per cent in favour of accepting the terms of settlement,” ILWU president Rob Ashton wrote in a letter posted to the union’s Facebook page shortly before 8 p.m. PT on Friday.

Both the ILWU and the employers, represented by the B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), have now ratified the deal.

Canada port strike resumes as union members reject wage agreement

Excerpted from Reuters.com, By Nia Williams, July 19, 2023

Dock workers at ports along Canada’s Pacific coast rejected on Tuesday 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.

The ILWU represents about 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 on 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.

Minister of Labor Seamus O’Regan and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said later in a joint statement the BCMEA had accepted the deal in full but ILWU Canada’s leadership decided not to recommend the ratification of the terms to their members.

The ministers said they were looking at all options and would comment further on Wednesday.

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the federal agency responsible for the shared stewardship of the Port of Vancouver, said it was disappointed that an agreement had not been reached.

The resumption of the strike could trigger more supply-chain disruptions and risk worsening inflation.

Federal government mediators helped negotiate the deal reached last week.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, criticized O’Regan for failing to solve the dispute.

“He claimed he’d gotten a deal to end the strike. Now it’s back on with massive costs to consumers, workers and business,” Poilievre said on Twitter.