August 1, 2023 – The ILWU will meet with membership at 0800 PT on Wednesday, August 2, to recommend the terms of settlement of the tentative agreement reached with the BCMEA. ILWU labour will return to work effective 1630 PT on August 2. Voting by ILWU membership is anticipated to occur on Thursday, August 3 and Friday, August 4. Regular operations at the port continue and recovery plans remain in effect.
July 30, 2023 – The union representing B.C. port workers has reached a tentative agreement with employers, averting another strike while capping a month of wild swings in industrial relations.
Both sides recommended late Sunday that their members accept the negotiated settlement, just hours after the union criticized employers for refusing to budge on the major sticking point of contracting out of jobs. Canaan Transport believes that this will be the final nail in the coffin and that labour peace will be achieved. Updates to come
July 29, 2023 – The federal government is seeking relief under the Canada Labour Code to resolve an impasse after union members at B.C. ports rejected a mediated tentative agreement. Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to intervene on Saturday, hours after the union announced that its eligible voting members turned down the proposed pact that their leadership agreed to accept last week.
He said he asked the board to determine whether the rejection of the recommended collective agreement means that the possibility of a negotiated settlement has been eliminated.
“If the board determines that to be the case, I have directed them to either impose a new collective agreement on the parties or impose final binding arbitration to resolve outstanding terms of the collective agreement,” Mr. O’Regan said in a statement on Saturday. “Our economy cannot face further disruption from this dispute.”
July 28, 2023 – The union representing B.C. port workers says its membership has voted to reject a mediated contract offer it reached with the BC Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) last week. In a statement Friday, the ILWU Canada Longshore Division says union members said “NO to the Terms of The Settlement.” It is unclear at this point in time as to the next steps as this is an unforeseen result. More news as it develops.
July 26, 2023 – There will be continued voting on Thursday, July 27, and Friday, July 28 by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada membership on the tentative agreement reached with the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA). Regular operations will continue while voting takes place. More news as it develops.
July 21, 2023 – The BCMEA has received communication from ILWU Canada and confirmed that the ILWU Longshore Caucus has approved and will recommend to their membership the Terms of the tentative Settlement that was proposed by the senior federal mediator. We understand that the ILWU will be conducting a stop working meeting on the 0800 (day) shift on Tuesday, July 25th, 2023 to recommend the terms of the tentative settlement to their membership. We will advise regarding the Vancouver Container Terminals work schedule for next week accordingly. Currently all Container Terminals in Vancouver are open and operating normally, without any issues being reported. Canaan Transport will be contacting affected customers individually to discuss remediation efforts for your cargo.
July 21, 2023 – Reports are filtering out that the port strike is officially over as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 502 says on its website that its bargaining committee has reached a tentative agreement with the BC Maritime Employers Association. We will provide confirmation once it is finalized.
July 21, 2023 – The union caucus will be taking another vote today to see if it will send the tentative agreement to its membership for a vote in a clear cut sign that pressure is indeed mounting on the union to agree to the deal. More news as it develops but at this time the ports in Canada’s west coast are operational until Monday.
July 20, 2023 – With the union returning to work today a growing sense that a deal is close continues to grow as pressure mounts on all sides. Canaan Transport believes that the strike will be over shortly as public sentiment is now switching to anger over the union’s tactics. Customers are still advised to “wait and see” at this point in time.
July 19, 2023 – Canada is fast becoming the laughing stock of the world as chaos defined today’s announcements in the ongoing west coast Canada port strike. Here is a quick summary of what has happened today:
- The Federal Labour Minister calling any continued strike action illegal
- The union issuing a 72 hour strike notice as required by its collective bargaining agreement
- The Port of Vancouver announcing that the port will reopen tonight but will close on Friday in anticipation of more strike action
- News reports emerge that the government will recall parliament to pass back to work legislation
- Late tonight, the union cancelled its strike notice
With these events, it seems very likely that cooler heads will prevail and the union will agree to the mediated settlement and avoid more chaos. More news as it develops.