Canadian Labour Authority declares ILWU strike notice invalid

Following a request from the BC Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), the Canada Industrial Labour Relations Board ruled on Sunday that a strike notice by the province’s dockworkers’ union was invalid. The strike was scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. local time on Monday, but has now been cancelled.

According to the board, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) only surveyed workers at a single BCMEA member company to determine whether they wanted to strike. Other ILWU members at other locations were not surveyed. The board concluded that this was improper and that the union had not negotiated in good faith. Therefore, it ordered ILWU Local 514 to withdraw its strike notice.

On Friday, BCMEA, the collective bargaining group for port employers on Canada’s west coast, said it would lock out Local 514 workers across the province if the union went on strike at DP World Canada. The coast-wide lockout would shut down all cargo docks in BC, except for grain terminals and cruise ships.

The ILWU’s main objection is DP World’s alleged decision to use automated systems in a freight yard at Vancouver’s Centerm container terminal. The union is strongly opposed to automation at all West Coast ports. Local 514 members rejected DP World’s final contract offer by a 99-1 majority, partly because of the automation issue. Wages and pensions are also part of the negotiations.

Statewide Labor Relations Committee mediators will work with the ILWU and BCMEA this week to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement.

A nationwide port strike rocked the Canadian business community last year, and although it was successfully ended, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) called for regulations to limit the ILWU’s ability to close the country’s major seaports to Asian trade. “The economic damage is so great,” CFIB president Dan Kelly told CBC. “We cannot continue like this as a nation.”