BC Port Lockouts Continue With No New Talks Scheduled

Unlike the lockout that has shut down Canada’s west coast container imports, contract talks held over the weekend between British Columbia maritime employers and their longshore union were over almost before they began, FreightWaves reported (11-11-24).

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 met separately on Saturday with a federal mediator in an effort to resolve a contract dispute involving 700 union forepersons at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.

Vancouver is Canada’s top gateway for containerized imports.

According to a posting by BCMEA, “[Saturday] evening the BCMEA and ILWU Local 514 met with the assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) in Vancouver. The parties met separately with the FMCS and, based on the discussions that transpired, there was no progress made. On that basis, the FMCS concluded the mediation, and no further meetings are scheduled.”

Container lines and terminal operators represented by BCMEA on November 4th locked out 700 forepersons represented by ILWU Local 514 after the union rejected the employers’ final contract offer. Longshore forepersons, also called walking bosses, supervise other workers, and manage loading operations in port facilities. In addition to wages and other contract issues, the union is balking at the introduction of automation in port operations.

The lockout has stalled an estimated $800 million worth of trade moving through British Columbia ports each day and comes at the same time as a strike by union dockworkers at the Port of Montreal, Canada’s second-busiest container hub.

While carriers initially had their vessels wait at anchor, it is expected that liner operators will divert services to Seattle-Tacoma and other West Coast ports as the stoppage drags on.