14 February 2008

Longshore unions stop work at Port of Vancouver

The following article is excerpted from the 13 February 2008 edition of “The Journal of Commerce”.

Three longshore locals at Canada’s Port of Vancouver are stopping work on two shifts Wednesday while they review a tentative three-year labor agreement….

A tentative three-year agreement between the ILWU and the BCMEA had been turned down by a union caucus of elected delegates, but was modified and put back on the table for ratification.

The main issue throughout negotiations centered on a desire by employers to dispatch daily worker assignments over the Internet rather than at the traditional morning hiring halls. The employers also wanted more flexibility to change shift times for full-time workers at terminals.

A statement from the BCMEA Wednesday said, “We have been working with ILWU officials all day to rectify this unacceptable situation but we have not been able to find a resolution. Local 500 cannot move their special meeting to review the collective agreement and Local 514 cannot move their meeting as it has been scheduled for some time.”