By Chuck Chiang
Ports in British Columbia could potentially be paralyzed again starting next week, as the latest labour dispute has triggered a provincewide lockout notice from employers against a union of more than 700 foremen.
The BC Maritime Employers Association says in a statement that it will “defensively” lock out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 starting Monday at 8 a.m., shutting down all cargo operations provincewide but leaving cruise ships and operations for grain vessels unaffected.
The employers say the lockout is meant to “facilitate a safe and orderly wind-down of operations” in light of “escalating and unpredictable strike action,” as the union had issued a 72-hour strike notice for job action also starting Monday at 8 a.m.
Local 514 president Frank Morena says in a release that workers had only planned to “engage in limited job action” such as an overtime ban, and it was the employers who “completely overreacted” by threatening a “full-scale lockout.”
Morena says workers are now “extremely angry” over the employers’ refusal to bargain major issues, such as staffing requirements as more automation is introduced at the ports, and the lockout is an “attempt to force the federal government to intervene in the dispute.”
The latest potential disruption at B.C. ports comes after three days of mediated talks this week to try to end the dispute that has been ongoing since the union’s contract expired in March last year, with port automation and the resulting effect on staff levels a key point of contention.
The union says the employers have tried to “lower existing minimum manning levels” at B.C. ports, with a Canada Industrial Relations Board document noting that Local 514 made a complaint in February that one employer — DP World — “failed to engage in bargaining on a manning agreement” and “purported to have the right to unilaterally implement automated rail operations” at its Vancouver container terminal.
“The union contends that DP World failed to bargain in good faith by its refusal to engage in any bargaining with respect to its proposed manning requirements flowing from the implementation of semi-automation of rail mounted gantry cranes,” the board document says.
The rail mounted gantry cranes used at ports are large, heavy-duty machines designed to move cargo containers in loading and unloading between trains, trucks, ships and storage.
The board ultimately decided to dismiss the union’s complaint, saying DP World’s practices “may not be conducive to harmonious labour relations” but the company had no legal duty or obligation to engage Local 514 on a manning proposal presented earlier this year.
Local 514 says its inability to negotiate with DP World as a single employer led to a vote among the membership “industry-wide” that resulted in a 96 per cent approval in September to authorize strike action if needed.
“Our members have repeatedly tried since our contract expired on March 31, 2023 to bargain a new contract without any job action, but the BCMEA employers have refused to move and now want to create a crisis instead of negotiating,” Morena says in the union statement.
The union is also accusing the employers of not showing up for negotiations on Thursday, the last scheduled day of mediated talks this week, while also failing to notify others that they would not be participating.
“The BCMEA and its members clearly don’t want to reach an agreement even when federal mediators and the union are standing by to continue talks — what kind of employer takes their ball and goes home when everybody else is on the field?” Morena says.
The employers association says its final offer to the union remains open for workers to accept unless it is withdrawn.
It also says the decision to lock out workers is necessary since job action can be escalated with no warning, “including the complete withdrawal of labour without notice.”
“We did not arrive to this decision lightly,” the employers association says in its statement announcing the lockout. “This regretful action follows thorough consideration of ILWU Local 514’s continued intransigence and their provocative decision to proceed with another strike notice.”
The employers’ statement also says the association is prepared to rescind the lockout notice if the union withdraws its strike notice.
There have been a number of recent disruptions at the Port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest, due to labour unrest.
It includes a days-long picketing effort at several grain terminals in September, a work stoppage involving both major Canadian railways in August, and a port worker strike last year that lasted 13 days and froze billions in trade at the docks.
