Some of Canada’s port workers reach new tentative deal with employers

By Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Part of Canada’s Pacific dock workers’ union said it reached a new tentative contract agreement with employers and that its leadership would vote on Friday on whether to put the deal up for ratification by members.

“There will be an emergency contract caucus held on Friday… to vote on whether the tentative agreement will be sent to the membership for ratification,” the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 502 said in a statement late on Thursday.

The local unit represents 3,000 of the 7,500 dock workers who went on strike for 13 days earlier this month. That strike ended last week with a tentative deal that was rejected by union leadership on Tuesday.

The ILWU initially told its members to return to the picket line, but then retracted when a federal watchdog said it had not provided 72-hours notice. It then gave notice for the strike to restart on Saturday, prompting calls for the federal government to recall parliament to pass back-to-work legislation.

But the ILWU then withdrew its strike notice on Wednesday, leaving the talks in what the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) said was a “fluid and unpredictable situation.”

A spokesperson for the ILWU did not immediately respond when asked if the local 502 position was the same for all of the union’s Pacific port workers.

“It is our hope that the union will ratify the proposed four-year agreement,” said a spokesperson for Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan’s office.

The strike has upended operations at Vancouver and Prince Rupert, two of Canada’s three busiest ports, which are key gateways for exporting natural resources and commodities and bringing in raw materials.

The walkout is estimated to have disrupted C$6.5 billion ($4.9 billion) of cargo movement at the ports, based on the industry body Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters’ calculation of about C$500 million in disrupted trade each day.

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