Employers of port foremen across British Columbia say they’ve made the “difficult decision” to lock out workers Monday afternoon, raising fears the move may freeze trade on Canada’s West Coast.
The B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) said its plan to lock out workers was meant to “facilitate a safe and orderly wind-down of operations” in light of “escalating and unpredictable strike action.”
Last week, it said the move was being done “defensively” after International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 514 issued a 72-hour strike notice for job action, which was due to start at 8 a.m. PT.
The union told CBC News Monday morning that it has “implemented an overtime ban and will refuse to participate in technological change as their limited job action.”
The union previously accused the BCMEA of “acting recklessly” by threatening the lockout, saying it was an an “attempt to force the federal government to intervene in the dispute.”
It said no negotiations are happening at the moment.
“The union bargaining committee is ready to resume at any time and the federal mediators are standing by as well, but the BCMEA has not indicated willingness to return to the table,” the union said.
The union’s main ask is to protect jobs from automation.
On Monday, the BCMEA said it will begin locking out foremen and other Local 514 members at 4:30 p.m. PT until further notice. It said the lockout will not apply to grain or cruise operations.
“Despite ILWU Local 514’s regrettable decision to destabilize Canada’s supply chain, the BCMEA’s comprehensive offer remains open until withdrawn,” BCMEA said in a statement.
The BCMEA said in a statement Sunday that its final offer — which was issued to the union’s president on Wednesday — remained open and that if it were accepted by the union, it would avoid “unnecessary strike action.”
Union president Frank Morena said in a news release Sunday that the employers had threatened to remove existing parts of the collective agreement if the union did not accept its final offer.
“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,” Morena said.
$800M in trade per day
Bridgitte Anderson, CEO and president of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said she’s very concerned about the potential of a lockout, adding that $800 million in trade flows through West Coast ports every day.
“This could have disruptions right across our industries, right across our sectors, and in fact right across the whole Canadian economy,” she said in an interview Sunday.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is calling on the federal government to step into the dispute and is asking Ottawa to make ports an essential service so that they remain fully operational at all times.
“The shutdown of B.C. ports will negatively impact many small businesses across Canada,” said Jasmin Guenette, CFIB’s vice-president of national affairs. He pointed out that a 13-day port strike in 2023 froze billions of dollars in trade at the docks.
In a statement on social media platform X on Sunday, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said federal mediators are on standby, ready to help the employers and union.
“It is the responsibility of the parties to reach an agreement. Businesses, workers and farmers are counting on them to get a deal,” he said.
During question period Monday, MacKinnon was asked by NDP MP Matthew Green whether the minister will “categorically reject” any intervention that would “force port workers to give up their collective bargaining rights.”
MacKinnon doubled down again saying it’s up to the parties to reach a deal.