Container and bulk carrier ships anchor in English Bay before berthing at the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren
Toronto: Canada’s labour minister has directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to determine whether a negotiated settlement or arbitration is still possible, after the dock workers union in western Canada rejected a contract.
Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said the government was using its authority under section 107 of the Canada labour code to “preserve” industrial peace.
The CIRB will determine whether to impose a new collective agreement or impose a final binding arbitration to resolve outstanding terms of the collective agreement, the minister said in a statement.
The minister said the ports in British Columbia were still operational.
Dock workers in western Canada have rejected a proposed labour contract that would have ended a dispute that had already affected trade and could have more economic repercussions by disrupting operations at the country’s busiest ports.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), representing about 7,500 dock workers, had been negotiating a new contract with the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) for months.
“The membership of the ILWU Canada Longshore Division has said no to the terms of the settlement,” the workers’ union said in a statement early on Saturday and called on its direct employers to come to the table for negotiations.
Alberta premier Danielle Smith asked elected officials and the union workers to immediately return to Ottawa to pass back-to-work legislation.
The BCMEA said it was disappointed that the ILWU rejected a tentative agreement that would have provided a compounded wage increase of 19.2% and increased retirement payouts in 2026 to C$96,250 (US$72,625 or RM330,390) for eligible retiring employees, over and above employees’ pension entitlements.
The proposed deal also provided a signing bonus of C$1.48 (RM5.09) per hour worked to be paid to each employee –equivalent to about C$3,000 (RM10,312) per full-time worker – and an 18.5% increase to a Modernisation and Mechanisation retirement lump sum payment, the BCMEA said.
The BCMEA also said it would await further direction from the federal government on the next steps and that the ILWU had not communicated its next steps and would retain the ability to provide 72-hour strike notices.
The leaders of the dock workers union in Canada’s Pacific region had last week backed the tentative contract deal with employers.
Some 7,500 workers walked off their jobs for 13 days earlier this month over disagreements about issues including wage increases and expanding the union’s jurisdiction to regular maintenance work on terminals. — Reuters
