Canada’s West Coast Ports Lock Out Foremen After Strike Notice
Maritime employers in British Columbia will lock out more than 730 dock foremen across Canada’s West Coast ports Monday afternoon, straining activity at major ports on both sides of the country.
The lockout would severely hamper operations at West Coast ports including Vancouver and Prince Rupert, stoking the flame already started by the current indefinite strike at two container terminals at the Port of Montreal. That walkout has been ongoing since Thursday morning.
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The B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) unveiled it would institute a lockout after the Local 514 branch of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) issued a 72-hour strike notice on Thursday.
The union, which went on strike at 8 a.m. local time, had first anticipated enacting an overtime strike, and said in a statement that the BCMEA “completely overreacted” by implementing a full-scale lockout.
“Let me be crystal clear to the BCMEA: Our union will not sign any contract which includes concessions that remove existing parts of our collective agreement that our members fought long and hard for over many years,” said ILWU Local 514 president Frank Morena in a statement Sunday.
The BCMEA, which called the strike action a “regrettable decision to destabilize Canada’s supply chain,” is offering the union a 19.2 percent wage increase over four years.
This work stoppage follows the 13-day strike from more than 7,400 longshoremen at the British Columbia ports in July 2023. That strike disrupted the flow of goods into Canada, with $10.7 billion Canadian dollars ($7.7 billion) worth of cargo held up and diverted elsewhere.
It also comes more than two months after the country’s two Class I railroads locked out employees for more than 16 hours. The federal government intervened to force the companies back to work.
In a notice to customers, the Port of Vancouver said it expected disruptions to operations starting at 8 a.m. local time Monday.
“This B.C. coastwide labor dispute will impact operations at BCMEA member terminals where Local 514 labor is employed,” the port said Friday. “At this time, we expect grain and cruise operations, along with operations at the Westshore coal terminal to continue at the Port of Vancouver.”
There is currently limited anchorage capacity at the port, due to elevated seasonal demand in the bulk sector as grain exports are in their peak period.
The port said it is working closely with the industry to ensure port fluidity by prioritizing anchorage assignments to terminals that remain operational. The port is also working with federal partner agencies to proactively manage vessel traffic impacted by the disruption, the port’s anchorage availability and expected inclement weather.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) said it would stop accepting export loads and empties headed to Vancouver, effective today. Canadian National (CN) also will halt exports headed to Vancouver’s container terminals, as well as those destined for Prince Rupert.
The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade is calling on Canada’s federal government to intervene.
“We are extremely concerned that this strike could cascade quickly to shutting down the entire west coast port system,” said Bridgitte Anderson, president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. “If another strike occurs it will again mean higher prices for Canadians at a time when the economy is struggling.”
Anderson said the strike notice puts $800 million Canadian dollars ($576 million) per day in trade at risk.
Canada’s Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said in a post on X Saturday that it is the responsibility of the BCMEA and the ILWU 514 to reach an agreement, but indicated that federal mediators are on site, ready to assist both parties.
The employers’ association and the union have been bargaining for more than 18 months to renew their collective agreement that expired in March 2023.
The ILWU had previously attempted to strike at port operator DP World’s facilities but was blocked by Canadian labor regulators, who said the union cannot exclusively bargain with just one of its employers in the contract dispute.
On Canada’s East Coast, the partial strike in Montreal still lingers, slowing down the processing of 40 percent of the containers that are delivered to the port.
As of Tuesday at 7 a.m., the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) will suspend a salary guarantee for on-call workers assigned to container transshipment who are not at work. This guaranteed pay typically enables longshore workers who are on standby, but not working due to light volume at the port, to still receive their full salary.
Salary would not be suspended for longshoremen in the bulk sector and essential services.
The MEA called the move a mitigation measure to reduce the cumulative financial impact of repeated strikes and lower volumes at the Port of Montreal.
Last week, the employers said they proposed entering a period of “accelerated negotiations” with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), supported by a special mediator appointed by the McKinnon. CUPE rejected the proposal.
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