End in sight for B.C. port strike? New tentative deal reached, union says

Is resolution near in B.C. port labour dispute? Dock workers returned to B.C. ports Thursday after a roller-coaster 24 hours that saw illegal pickets go up, only to come down again.

Leadership for the union representing striking B.C. dockworkers is set to have an emergency meeting Friday to decide if they will send a proposed deal to members for a vote – which could end the uncertainty at the ports.

In an update Thursday, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada said the latest round of bargaining resulted in a new tentative agreement with the BC Maritime Employers Association.

If the union’s contract caucus agrees to send the deal for ratification, a vote will be scheduled.

The announcement is the latest development in what has been a tumultuous 48 hours in the dispute at the docks.

The chaotic week began on Tuesday afternoon when the union rejected a proposed settlement and a picket line went up.

On Wednesday, workers stood down after an announcement that the Canada Industrial Relations Board ruled the resumed action illegal due to a lack of notice. That 72-hour notice was served soon after, with the union saying workers would walk off the job again Saturday morning.

Hours later, ILWU removed its strike notice, and employees were back to work.

Mark Thompson, a professor emeritus of industrial relations at UBC and a former mediator, has been following the developments closely and says this could signal an end to the dispute.

"It's always darkest before the dawn and just when you think there isn't a deal – bingo," said Thompson.

"When the parties aren't talking to the media, that's a good thing. That means they're talking to each other."

Asked about the on-again-off-again strike on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Belleville, Ont., he is glad to see the union reconsidering the good offer that was on the table.

Trudeau also called the union caucus's decision to reject a federal mediator's tentative deal "unacceptable," and stressed the impact the labour dispute has had on Canada’s economy.

"The impact on workers, on families, on businesses right across the country of this prolonged strike has been significant," Trudeau said.

The strike saw a 13-day work-stoppage wherein billions of dollars worth of goods stopped flowing.

On Wednesday, Trudeau convened a meeting of the government's incident response group to discuss the situation

Hamish Telford, a political science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, notes that this is a measure that has been used to co-ordinate responses to the so-called “Freedom Convoy” and the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years.

"Evidently, they believe this labour dispute at the port of Vancouver is sufficiently important to the Canadian economy that they need to co-ordinate cabinet ministers and get their response to it," said Telford.

Telford says the group of ministers and senior officials would include the likes of Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra, Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland and potentially local MPs.

On Thursday, B.C.'s premier David Eby weighed in on the ongoing dispute and the challenges the Canadian trade market is facing – saying every day the port is closed, it has "devastating" impacts.

"We also know the workers at the port have seen the shipping companies that they work with every single day literally make billions of dollars during the pandemic as the shipping rate went through the roof while their wages were flat," said Eby.

The BC NDP leader went on to say that the workers deserve to be treated fairly, and the ports need to get back to functioning properly.

Since the strike began in early July, nearly $10 billion of cargo has been disrupted.

The National Association of Chemical Distributors is reporting millions of dollars-worth of critical chemicals sitting in crates in Vancouver, and the delays could cause supply chain shortages in the fall.

"All of these essential items that come in every day at the ports in Vancouver or down here in the States, when it gets bottled up like that, all of sudden you're going to start seeing shortages two three months down the road," said Eric Byer, the President and CEO of NACD.

NACD distributes chemicals that go into everything from food, drinks to cleaning products.

Byer says they are hopeful a resolution will be made soon where both sides can find common ground and work together to thrive for years to come.