Workers picket at Neptune Terminal during an International Longshore and Warehouse Union labour dispute in North Vancouver, B.C., on Nov. 5.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
Canada’s potash producers are warning that the lockout of unionized supervisors at British Columbia ports could allow rivals such as Russia and Belarus to gain market share.
With commodities such as potash stuck onshore at the Port of Vancouver, bottlenecks are growing in the supply chain. Potash is among the key exports suspended at Neptune Bulk Terminals (Canada) Ltd. in North Vancouver and Pacific Coast Terminals Co. Ltd. in Port Moody.
The BC Maritime Employers Association locked out about 730 ship and dock forepersons on Monday afternoon, hours after the union started what it called limited strike action that included a ban on overtime. The locations are in the Vancouver region, Prince Rupert, Port Alberni and Nanaimo.
Members of Local 514, who are supervisors of 7,400 workers at the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada, set up picket lines on Tuesday morning, including at the Neptune terminal.
The previous five-year collective agreement at Local 514 expired on March 31, 2023.
Canada controls roughly 40 per cent of global output of potash, a fertilizer ingredient that is used to boost crop yields on farms.
“Fertilizer is essential to food security, and this stoppage will have a devastating impact on Canada’s potash industry,” Fertilizer Canada president Karen Proud said in a statement on Tuesday.
The organization estimates that its member companies stand to lose revenue totalling $9.7-million a day. Potash from Canada is exported to customers in more than 75 countries.
“If we cannot supply them with Canadian-produced fertilizer, they will look to other countries, such as Russia and Belarus,” said Ms. Proud, who urged the federal government to intervene in the labour dispute.
Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said on Monday that mediators are available to help out. But he said it’s the responsibility of the BC Maritime Employers Association and union to reach a collective agreement.
Canpotex Ltd. is Canada’s export-marketing group for potash, working on behalf of Saskatoon-based Nutrien Ltd. NTR-T and U.S.-based Mosiac Co.
“A prolonged disruption could negatively impact farmers and food security around the globe,” Nutrien spokesperson Shawn Churchill said in a statement. “We urge the parties to come to an agreement before damage is done to Canada’s reputation as a reliable, global potash supplier.”
All container terminals, which handle both imports and exports, and most other facilities at B.C. ports closed on Monday. Only a handful of operations remain open, such as sites for exporting coal, heavy oil and bulk grain.
Rank-and-file longshore workers at the ILWU went on strike at B.C. ports for two weeks in July, 2023.
The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade has revived its “port shutdown calculator,” displaying an electronic tally of the value of trade disrupted, rising each second. During last year’s strike at B.C. ports by longshore workers, the calculator showed that $10.7-billion of cargo had been affected, based on an estimated impact of $800-million a day.
After bargaining stalled last year, negotiations resumed in January with the assistance of the federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
The BC Maritime Employers Association represents DP World Canada, whose parent is based in Dubai, and 48 other private-sector companies such as ship owners and terminal operators. Union leaders say they are concerned about the lack of consultation with the implementation of semi-automation at DP World Canada’s Centerm container terminal at the Port of Vancouver.
A decision last month by the Canada Industrial Relations Board sided with the employers on the Centerm issue. “The board finds that the shop stewards and the union executives had to be aware that automation of operations at Centerm terminal was being developed and would be implemented,” the CIRB said in its ruling.
Frank Morena, president of Local 514, said the lockout is an overreaction by employers to the limited strike action by unionized supervisors.
This week’s lockout is the latest in a series of disruptions in Canada’s supply chain, including at the Port of Montreal.
A railway shutdown delayed deliveries of a wide range of cargo for several days in August, and then employees at six grain terminals at the Port of Vancouver went on strike for four days in September.
During the lockout that began Monday, bulk grain shipments have continued to be exported overseas, in accordance with the Canada Labour Code.
Under the code, grain is deemed essential for loading ships through stevedoring companies at docks, though it doesn’t apply to workers at the grain terminals themselves.
Two coal export terminals, Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. in Delta and Trigon Pacific Terminals Ltd. in Prince Rupert, will keep running because those companies have their own collective agreements.
The Westridge Marine Terminal, where tankers depart with heavy oil from the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline, will also continue operating.
While the 2024 cruise season at the Port of Vancouver already ended last month, the BC Maritime Employers Association and Local 514 said the lockout does not apply to cruise-related operations such as ship maintenance work.