Port employers in western Canada will lock out union longshore forepersons Monday in a move that could shut down trade through the country’s key West Coast gateways.
The move by the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) representing ocean carriers and terminal operators at the Port of Vancouver, the country’s busiest container hub, and the Port of Prince Rupert, comes in a contract dispute over 700 forepersons represented by International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 514.
Employers termed the lockout, set for 9 a.m. local time, a defensive move after the union earlier had called for an industry-wide strike as of 8 a.m. Monday.
The BCMEA called the strike notice “untenable” in an update posted to its website, and said a lockout would ensure “a safe and orderly wind-down of operations.”
An estimated $800 million worth of trade flows through Canada’s West Coast ports each day.
Employers said their final offer calls for a wage hike of 19.2% spread over four years, boosting forepersons’ median pay to C$246,323-$293,617.
The BCMEA warned that if the union rejected the offer, terms of subsequent contract proposals would not be as generous.
Union president Frank Morena fired back in a news release Sunday.
“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.”
Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon posted on X that he had been in touch with both sides, and that federal mediators were on site ready to assist. “It is the responsibility of the parties to reach an agreement. Businesses, workers, and farmers are counting on them,” he wrote.
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