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VANCOUVER — Employers and the union representing supervisors embroiled in a labour dispute that triggered a lockout at British Columbia’s ports will attempt to reach a deal when talks restart this weekend.
A spokesman from the office of federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon confirmed Friday that the minister spoke with leaders at both the BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514, but did not invoke any section of the Canadian Labour Code that would force them back to talks.
“The parties involved in the B.C. ports negotiation will meet with federal mediators on Saturday after Minister MacKinnon asked them to return to the negotiation table,” the statement from MacKinnon’s office said.
A meeting notice obtained by The Canadian Press showed talks beginning in Vancouver at 5 p.m. and extendable into Sunday and Monday, if necessary.
The lockout at B.C. ports by employers began on Monday after what their association describes as “strike activity” from the union. The result was a paralysis of container cargo traffic at terminals across Canada’s west coast.
The dispute has caught the attention of federal leaders, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh both in Vancouver on Friday.
Trudeau, when asked by a reporter if his government would consider back-to-work legislation if the dispute drags on, said they have always emphasized that “the best deals end up at the bargaining table.”
“We are expecting and encouraging the parties to work together at the bargaining table — and to remember that in their disagreements, they are hurting Canadians, workers, farmers, union members right across the country for every minute they don’t develop a solution,” Trudeau said.
Singh, meanwhile, attended a rally in Vancouver Friday near the picket line of locked out port workers.
On Thursday, the union said it has filed a complaint against the employers for allegedly bargaining in bad faith, a charge that employers call a “meritless claim.”
The two sides have been without a deal since March 2023, and the employers say its final offer presented last week in the last round of talks remains on the table.
The proposed agreement includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term along with an average lump sum payment of $21,000 per qualified worker.
The union has said one of its key concerns is the advent of port automation in cargo operations, and workers want assurances on staffing levels regardless of what technology is being used at the port.
The disruption is happening while two container terminals are shut down in Montreal in a separate labour dispute.
It leaves container cargo traffic disrupted at Canada’s two biggest ports, Vancouver and Montreal, both operating as major Canadian trade gateways on the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
This is one of several work disruptions at the Port of Vancouver, where a 13-day strike stopped cargo last year, while labour strife in the rail and grain-handling sectors led to further disruptions earlier this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press
