Canada West Coast ports to resume operations today

TORONTO (ICIS)–The Port of Vancouver and other Canadian West Coast ports will resume operations on 14 November, 16:30 local time, after a strike and lockout of about 730 foremen who supervise more than 7,000 dock workers that began on 4 November.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) has issued an interim order to employers and union to resume operations and continue working until the board makes a final determination on Tuesday’s government directions, officials said.

The government directed the CIRB to order the resumption of all operations at the West Coast ports and at the Port of Montreal, and to settle pending labor disputes through binding arbitration.

The CIRB has scheduled a hearing for 18 November to hear from employers and unions on certain questions that were raised with respect to the government’s intervention.

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), which represents West Coast port employers, said it would work with labor union International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and others to safely and efficiently resume operations at the ports.

The Port of Vancouver, which is Canada’s largest port by far, confirmed that it was preparing for the resumption of operations. Timelines would be terminal specific, with container terminals expected to restart operations early Friday, 15 November, it said.

More than Canadian dollar (C$) 22 million ($15.7 million) of chemistry and plastic products was traded through Vancouver and other West Coast ports each day in 2023, for a total of C$8 billion for the year, according to the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada.

MONTREAL
At the Port of Montreal, where labor disruptions started on 31 October and employers locked out about 1,200 dock workers on 10 November, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) said it would take the necessary steps to ensure that port activities resume as quickly as possible.

The MEA has not yet received an order from the CIRB but expects to receive it later on Thursday or on Friday, a spokesperson told ICIS.

“As soon as we receive said order, we could be operational within 12-24 hours”, the spokesperson said.

The Port of Montreal, for its part, said that cargo handling activities would gradually resume over the coming days. However, it would take several weeks to clear terminal backlogs and fully restore supply chains, it added.

Container operations were still affected by the labor disruption on Thursday, according to information on the website of Termont, which operates two of the port’s four container terminals.

The unions representing the port workers in Montreal and the West Coast ports said they would challenge the government intervention in court as the intervention violated workers’ rights to strike and to negotiate better wages.

Earlier, another labor union, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), filed a court challenge against the government’s move in August to intervene and end a freight rail labor dispute. That case has not yet been decided.

Meanwhile, at US East Coast ports a strike has been paused until 15 January.

($1=C$1.4)

Thumbnail photo source: Port of Vancouver