Most British Columbia port terminals are set to shut down on Monday morning due to a labor dispute between the union representing 700 forepersons and the B.C. Maritime Employers Association. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 has issued a 72-hour strike notice, with plans to walk off the job starting at 8 a.m. on November 4. The BCMEA, in response, stated it will implement a lockout of employees Monday morning to facilitate an orderly shutdown.

The dispute will halt freight shipments through the ports of Vancouver, Canada's busiest, and Prince Rupert. However, grain loading onto ships will continue.

The work stoppage is expected to immediately impact freight volumes for Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) in Canada. International intermodal traffic destined for Chicago and other Midwest locations is most likely to be rerouted from British Columbia ports. This follows a 13-day strike this past summer that led shippers to divert volume to U.S. West Coast ports.

According to data from RailState, a firm that monitors rail traffic, CN and CPKC dispatched an average of seven eastbound intermodal trains daily from Vancouver in September. CN also handled an average of 1.5 intermodal trains daily from Prince Rupert during the same period. A brief work stoppage in August had previously halted rail traffic on CN and CPKC due to a contract dispute.