Gantry cranes sit idle as a container ship is docked at port during a work stoppage in Vancouver on July 19.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The union caucus that rejected a tentative labour agreement for B.C. port workers has changed its position and approved the package in a new vote on Friday, clearing the way for ratification by the membership.
The voting result means that the tentative deal will be presented to the rank and file next week.
About 7,400 members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) halted their 13-day strike on July 13, and then held a 24-hour walkout earlier this week.
In an ILWU bulletin, union president Rob Ashton confirmed Friday’s voting results, adding that there will be a new meeting on Tuesday to “recommend the terms of settlement to the membership.” Voting at longshore locals is scheduled for July 27-28, with results to be announced on July 29.
A timeline of the B.C. port workers strike over the past month
Last week, a federal mediator drafted the proposed four-year collective agreement.
The tentative deal provides for wage hikes of 5 per cent in each of the first two years, followed by increases of 4 per cent in each of the final two years, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
The Globe is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The annual wage increases total 18 per cent nominally, and work out to a compounded wage hike of 19.2 per cent over four years.
About 6,000 of the ILWU’s members are in the Vancouver region, 1,000 in the Prince Rupert area in northern B.C. and the rest on Vancouver Island.
“Thank you to the ILWU Canada longshore caucus for sending the terms of settlement to a membership vote, with their recommendation for ratification,” federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan tweeted on Friday.
The ILWU listed contracting out as one of its three main issues, along with cost-of-living wage increases and the effect of automation on job security.
Automation emerged as a crucial issue, growing in importance in April after the federal government approved the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s proposal to build a $3.5-billion container terminal, which would be semi-automated.
Under the mediated proposal, the signing bonus or “inflation adjustment allowance” would be about $3,000, depending on the hours worked in 2022, according to the two sources.
There is also an 18.5-per-cent increase to a retirement fund that currently has a $81,250 lump-sum payout for eligible new retirees.
The union sought a two-year agreement, while employers proposed a four-year deal.
The BC Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), which represents 49 private-sector companies such as shipowners and terminal operators, said this week that it ratified the mediated proposal on July 13.
“We are hopeful that the voting membership, like the ILWU caucus leadership and bargaining committee, will support the fair and equitable deal as recommended by the senior federal mediator,” the BCMEA said in a statement on Friday.
Peter Simpson, director-general of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, drafted the recommended collective agreement.
Rick Hurtubise, president of ILWU Local 502, said in a bulletin late on Thursday that Friday’s vote is part of a process to send the tentative pact for the membership to ratify. Local 502, which is based in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, is one of five longshore locals with representatives on the caucus.
Friday’s vote capped a week of wild swings in industrial relations, with labour peace seemingly imminent and then elusive.
Earlier this week, only days after the union’s bargaining committee approved the tentative pact to initially end the strike, the caucus voted instead to reject the settlement, triggering the new walkout. The way it unfolded exposed a gap in positions between the caucus and the negotiating team.
Within hours, the Canada Industrial Relations Board ruled that the walkout lacked the required 72-hour strike notice, and ordered the workers to drop their picket lines. The union said it will respect the board’s decision, but will be appealing it.
On Wednesday morning, ILWU leaders served their new 72-hour strike notice that had been scheduled to take effect on Saturday, only to revoke that notice hours later.
The disruption to the supply chain, including trains and trucks, has upended the flow of a wide range of products such as imports of consumer goods and exports of raw materials.
B.C. port strike raises questions about essential agriculture
Business groups such as Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters have been sounding the alarm about the damage to Canada’s reputation as a reliable trading partner. Amid the continuing uncertainty over cargo shipments, they have been urging the federal Liberal government to recall Parliament to introduce back-to-work legislation, if the situation deteriorates again. Parliament is currently on a summer recess until September.
“We need the federal government to seriously consider measures to ensure stability in manufacturing,” CME president Dennis Darby said in a statement on Friday morning.
The labour dispute did not affect the servicing of cruise lines. Bulk grain shipments and coal also continued being exported overseas.
Still, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade estimates that the first work stoppage led to the disruption of $9.9-billion worth of goods between the morning of July 1 and afternoon of July 13, based on a rate of $800-million a day.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the labour impasse. The meeting was held with the Incident Response Group, including federal ministers who gather in the event of a national crisis or incidents with major implications.
Four-year contract proposed by mediator to end B.C. port strike
The union caucus had argued that employers could afford to pay more than the mediator’s recommended package.
Five major shipping companies made US$103.3-billion in profit last year, compared with US$6.2-billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report commissioned by the ILWU and released last week by Jim Stanford, economist and director at the Centre for Future Work.