5,000 Canadian ILWU B.C. Port Workers Set To Walk
5,000 Canadian ILWU B.C. Port Workers Set To Walk
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/business/37098334.html
SURREY NORTH DELTA LEADER
Port foremen in strike position
By Jeff Nagel - Surrey North Delta Leader
Published: January 05, 2009 11:00 AM
Weekend negotiations aimed at averting a port strike ended with no deal but the two sides are expected to meet again later this week.
Any strike by more than 450 ship and dock foremen at B.C. ports is expected to lead to another 5,000 port workers walking off the job, halting container and other cargo shipments by water and triggering a chain reaction of impacts and disruptions for other businesses.
The port foremen have been without a contract since March of 2007 and are represented by local 514 of the international Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).
Federally mediated talks ended at 2 a.m. Sunday morning with negotiators for the B.C. Maritime Employers' Association (BCMEA) promising a response to the union's latest proposal as early as Wednesday but no later than Friday.
Neither the union nor the employer has issued 72-hour strike or lockout notice yet, but either can now do so because a cooling-off period expired on Dec. 30.
Grain is the only type of cargo that would continue to move through ports during a strike, according to Greg Vurdela, the BCMEA's vice-president of marketing and information services.
"Grain will continue to flow because it's under essential services," he said. "Everything else will be affected."
The BCMEA had previously offered a three-year deal expiring in 2010 that would increase wages and benefits by a total of 13 per cent and boost base pay rates to $46 an hour.
Metro Vancouver port-related activities are estimated to be responsible for $22 billion per year of economic output and $6.1 billion in wages.
The foremen are the second group of port-related workers threatening to go on strike.
Container truckers haven't asked for a rate increase but are demanding tougher measures to enforce previously agreed rates and prevent undercutting by some truckers.
jnagel@surreyleader.com