B.C. port strike: Federal labour minister launches review to uncover ‘structural issues’

Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan is launching an examination of the not too long ago resolved British Columbia port dispute to see if “structural issues” in negotiations led to a 13-day work stoppage final month.

In a written assertion launched Wednesday by means of social media platform X, previously often called Twitter, O’Regan stated officers will instantly start by reviewing studies on earlier, comparable disputes.

O’Regan stated the objective is to create “a harmonious working environment” between unions and employers in future collective bargaining, so as to forestall future stoppages just like the port strike from occurring.

“Another dispute and disruption on that scale is still possible, and that’s not good enough,” O’Regan stated within the assertion. “The workers and businesses that depend on our ports deserve long-term solutions. They deserve answers.”

The port labour dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada representing about 7,400 employees and the BC Maritime Employers Association got here to an finish final Friday, when the union introduced its members voted nearly 75 per cent in favour of ratifying a brand new deal.

But the unrest had been tumultuous.

Workers went on strike from July 1 to July 13, freezing the motion of billions of {dollars} price of cargo at a few of the nation’s busiest ports.

A tentative deal halted that strike motion, however when the union caucus stated it needed to reject the contract, there was a quick return to pickets on July 18.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board dominated that transfer unlawful with out discover, forcing workers again to work the following day.

A full union membership vote rejected the tentative settlement on July 28, and O’Regan directed the commercial relations board to contemplate imposing a deal or binding arbitration on the 2 sides.

The union and employers introduced they’d reached a brand new take care of the assistance of the board on July 30, and it was ratified by final week’s union vote.

In a written assertion, BCMEA president and CEO Mike Leonard indicated employers could also be enthusiastic about collaborating in O’Regan’s efforts to enhance “port labour relations structure,” saying the affiliation welcomed the federal government assessment as an “opportunity to modernize” the method.

Groups such because the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce have known as for “new tools” to settle labour disputes in important supply-chain sectors, with the federation asking for the designation of ports as important providers.

Labour consultants, nonetheless, stated the federal authorities could have restricted choices to forestall comparable strikes from occurring when talks hit an deadlock, as was the case with the B.C. port dispute.

University of Manitoba affiliate professor of Labour Studies David Camfield stated employees’ proper to strike in Canada is already “very narrowly circumscribed,” with solely unionized employees eligible to take job motion at a particular time after a collective settlement has expired.

Camfield stated a push by the federal government to additional restrict strike motion throughout collective negotiations – an act protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms – could find yourself triggering authorized challenges and getting slowed down in courts.

“I can understand why there are business groups putting pressure on the federal government to further restrict it, particularly for some kinds of workers,” Camfield stated. “But this is already a pretty restricted right.”

Camfield stated the variety of strikes in Canada has not grown as quick as these in different international locations such because the United States, and pales compared to the frequency of job motion between the Nineteen Sixties and the Eighties.

“The relative impact of strikes on the economy is actually really low compared to what it once was,” he stated. “But the tolerance level for inconvenience and disruption also has dropped, and so when workers like these port workers exercised their legal right, some people act like the sky is falling.”

University of British Columbia professor emeritus Mark Thompson stated a autopsy of the port strike by somebody not concerned within the negotiations would possible present that “all of the parties were rather inept” in inflicting the work stoppage, and structural adjustments to labour relations will not be warranted.

“Longshoring strikes cause economic damage, which is usually made up rather quickly,” he stated. “Stories of economic losses are greatly exaggerated … more skilled negotiators on both sides, plus the mediator, might well have ended this strike more quickly without direct intervention by the government.”

Thompson stated the strike could have been averted if the employers addressed the union’s non-wage issues comparable to contracting out and job safety earlier within the negotiations.

Terms of the deal ratified by each the union and the BC Maritime Employers Association launched by the CIRB this week included a dedication by employers to coach employees to carry out upkeep on new gear.

Contracting out upkeep work to 3rd events had been one of the crucial contentious points in the course of the dispute.

The four-year settlement additionally incorporates a number of phrases about employees’ compensation, together with boosts to hourly wages to a base price of $57.51 by 2026.

There are additionally will increase within the “Modernization and Mechanization retirement lump sum,” bringing that payout to $96,250 in 2026 for eligible retirees, over and above regular pension entitlements.

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Aug. 9, 2023