Longshore union negotiators will brief workers Wednesday about a new tentative collective agreement with employers before a two-day vote on whether to approve the deal that could finally bring an end to B.C.’s long-running port dispute.
Canada’s Industrial Relations Board helped the union and employers iron out the agreement, according to a joint statement from the union and employers, with both sides “recommending ratification of the collective agreement to the union’s membership and member employers respectively.”
In the board’s order Monday, chairperson Ginette Brazeau warned the union that “it can be considered an unfair labour practice for union leadership to unanimously support a settlement agreement and subsequently change its position through the ratification process.”
Where do things stand now?
The board order directs the employers and union recommend the settlement for ratification, with the union to hold a ratification vote no later than Friday.
It says a “stop work” meeting will be held Wednesday morning at the union’s Vancouver headquarters, so members of the contract negotiating committee can answer questions. All members encouraged to attend.
Is this really the end?
David Camfield, a University of Manitoba associate professor of labour studies, said no one should take for granted what the outcome will be on a ratification vote.
“There’s often an assumption that workers will just vote in favour if their bargaining committee, their leadership, is recommending that they accept a deal.”
It isn’t clear when, or even if, the strike would resume if the ratification vote fails.
The first step under the board’s order will be for the union and employers to file written submissions to the board within two days, stating their opinions on whether they see a settlement as possible.
“I think what (the board) have succeeded in doing is at least taking some heat out of the situation,” said port labour expert Peter Hall, an urban studies professor at Simon Fraser University.
Hall suspects there would likely be a cooling-off period and the union would likely have to reissue 72-hour strike notice, though O’Regan is pushing for alternative means, including arbitration, to resolve the dispute.
What’s the role of the Industrial Relations Board?
O’Regan, with his powers under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code “to preserve labour peace,” directed the Canada’s Industrial Relations Board to first investigate whether a settlement is possible.
If it isn’t, O’Regan’s expectations are for the board to impose a settlement, or send the parties to binding arbitration, according to the statement he issued over the weekend.
“I get the sense that they’re really trying hard to avoid recalling Parliament over this,” Hall said.
The government has been under pressure to recall Parliament. Parties including Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the Business Council of Canada and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business have all urged the federal government to legislate an end to the dispute if it continued.
What’s the status of goods shipments that have not moved?
Port terminals remain in normal operation, with the Canada’s Industrial Relations Board order barring further strikes or lockouts until ratification vote results are known.
Terminals resumed operations July 13 under a recovery plan that called for the backlog of shipments caused by the strike to be handled on “a priority-based allocation system.” And that plan is probably still drawing down the backlog, according to Andrew Wynn-Williams, B.C. division vice-president for the trade group Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.
Wynn-Williams said estimates are that it would take seven days to recover from every day of delay during the strike.
