Labour minister directs board to consider imposing new contract or arbitration on B.C. port workers

Canada’s labour minister says he takes motion to revive long-term stability at B.C.’s ports after unionized employees rejected a tentative settlement late Friday night time.

Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan issued a press release Saturday saying he had directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to find out whether or not the union’s determination “has eliminated the possibility of a negotiated resolution” to ongoing labour strife on Canada’s west coast.

“If the board determines that to be the case, I have directed them to either impose a new collective agreement on the parties or impose final binding arbitration to resolve outstanding terms of the collective agreement,” O’Regan mentioned.

The minister’s motion comes lower than 24 hours after the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada introduced that its longshore division had “said no to the terms of the settlement,” throwing B.C.’s ports again into turmoil.

“Today we call on our direct employers to come to the table and negotiate something that works for our members and the industry,” the union mentioned in a short assertion Friday night time.

The union has been with no contract since March 31, when its earlier take care of the BC Maritime Employers Association expired.

Negotiations on a brand new contract started late final yr, however have been fraught, in the end culminating in a 13-day strike motion by the union.

That motion ended on July 13, when either side initially accepted a deal put ahead by a federally appointed mediator.

On July 18, nonetheless, ILWU management introduced that it had rejected the mediator’s phrases, and picket strains returned to B.C. ports.

That motion proved to be short-lived, because the CIRB dominated the resumption of the strike unlawful, as a result of it lacked a 72-hour discover.

While the union objected to this ruling and promised to attraction, it ceased picketing and issued a brand new strike discover, earlier than rescinding that discover and promising a membership vote on the deal.

Now, that deal has been rejected by the union’s full membership, leaving the events as soon as once more at an deadlock. 

EMPLOYER RESPONDS

In its personal assertion late Friday night time, the BCMEA mentioned it was “disappointed” to study that union members had rejected the federally mediated settlement.

“ILWU Canada’s inability to ratify a fair and balanced recommended tentative agreement has left Canadians, businesses and the entire supply chain in a perilous state that has cost billions and will further hurt affordability and increase costs for Canadians,” the employer mentioned.

The union has not publicly mentioned the phrases of the contract its members rejected, however the BCMEA claims the four-year deal would have elevated wages by a complete of 19.2 per cent.

It additionally would have supplied a signing bonus of $1.48 per hour for every worker and elevated the “modernization and mechanization retirement lump sum payment” by 18.5 per cent.

The use of contractors for upkeep work has been a sticking level for employees in earlier rounds of negotiation, as have considerations about automation.

The BCMEA maintains that it has labored to handle these considerations on the bargaining desk, and criticized the ILWU Canada’s “erratic actions” during the last month.

“Regrettably, ILWU’s rejection once again leaves businesses, Canadians and all those who depend on a stable, well-functioning supply chain hanging in the balance,” the employer mentioned, including that it “awaits further direction from the federal government.”

“Canada’s international reputation as a stable trading partner has been jeopardized and it can no longer tolerate further ambiguity and instability to the nation’s supply chain network.”

CALLS FOR BACK-TO-WORK LEGISLATION

While the BCMEA stopped in need of overtly calling for back-to-work laws, different events did so inside hours of Friday’s announcement.

“Enough is enough,” mentioned Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, in a press release Saturday morning.

“It is imperative that our political leaders from all parties work together to reconvene Parliament and pass back-to-work legislation without delay.”

Bridgitte Anderson, the president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, additionally referred to as for federal intervention “to ensure that our ports stay open.”

“It is also clear that the federal government needs additional tools to facilitate lasting agreements when labour disruptions affect the entire economy,” Anderson mentioned in a press release Saturday.

Last time the union rejected the deal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened the “incident response group” to debate the state of affairs at B.C. ports. 

This high-level devoted panel of cupboard ministers and senior officers is the federal authorities’s devoted emergency committee that meets within the occasion of nationwide crises or occasions which have main implications for the nation.

The group is “responsible for coordinating a prompt federal response to an incident, and making fast, effective decisions,” and has beforehand been convened to handle the COVID-19 pandemic response, the “Freedom Convoy” protests, and Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.

With information from CTVNews.ca’s Rachel Aiello and The Canadian Press