VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The strike at British Columbia ports, which was halted by a tentative settlement, resumed, then halted by a government ruling, now appears to be in limbo.
Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union today provided a 72-hour notice of intent to strike, which set the stage for their walkout at 30 ports in British Columbia to resume as soon as Saturday, Reuters reported earlier today.
However, a posting on the ILWU website says the strike notice, which was to have been effective Saturday at 9 a.m., “has now been removed.” With the strike notice rescinded, a walkout could not resume until after a new 72-hour notification is provided.
The BC Maritime Employers Association, which represents employers at ports throughout the province, told the Canadian Press it was “seeking clarification” what the ILWU decision means for possible strike action.
ILWU workers walked out Tuesday after rejecting the tentative agreement reached July 14 that ended a 13-day strike [see “British Columbia ports strike ends …,” Trains News Wire, July 14, 2023]. Rob Ashton, ILWU Canada president, said in a statement that the union did not believe the settlement proposed by a federal mediator “had the ability to protect our jobs now or into the future,” failed to address cost-of-living issues, and that the four-year term of the agreement was too long.
The union resumed its strike at 4:30 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, but the Canada Industrial Relations Board ruled the strike was illegal because the union had not provided the 72-hour notice required under Canadian law. Ashton said in a statement that the ILWU will appeal that decision but has respected the ruling and reissued the notice with the hope of returning to the bargaining table to resume negotiations with the BC Maritime Employers Association.
The CBC reports Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened a crisis cabinet committee, the Incident Response Group, to address the situation at the ports. That group is convened only in times of “national crisis” or to discuss events with major implications for Canada.
The port strike has had a major impact on Canadian rail traffic; in its first week, Canadian intermodal volume dropped by 46% compared to the same week a year earlier; in the second week, intermodal traffic was down 36.2%, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads.
— Updated at 8:40 p.m. CDT with additional detail on removal of strike notice.
