Seamus O’Regan says that the differences between the union and the employer are not big enough to keep the strike going
The federal minister of labor says he has given a federal mediator 24 hours to send him suggestions on how to end the port strike in British Columbia.
Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan, who is in Vancouver with federal mediators trying to break a deadlock at the negotiating table, said Tuesday night that a good deal was “within reach” for both sides after more than a week of talks to end the strike that started on July 1.
“After 11 days of a work stoppage, I have decided that the difference between the employer’s position and the union’s position is not big enough to justify a continued work stoppage,” he said in a statement.
O’Regan said Tuesday night that he had asked the senior federal mediator to send him a written recommendation on the terms of the deal within a day.
WATCH | What the strike at the port in B.C. means for Canada:
“Once I get the terms of the settlement, I’ll send them to the parties, and they’ll have 24 hours to decide whether or not to recommend that their bosses accept the terms,” he said.
Some 7,500 dock workers who were members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) quit their jobs on July 1 because they and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) could not agree on a new wage deal.
The union says that the BCMEA won’t give a fair pay raise even though it has made billions of dollars in profits over the past few years. The association says it is negotiating in good faith, but blames the strike for hurting trade and the economy.
Things like the price of living,port automationWhen ILWU workers went on strike, the biggest problems were with overtime pay and hiring people from outside the union.
In statements made late on Monday, both sides said that the failure to reach a new agreement was the other side’s fault. The association said that ILWU Canada had turned down its proposals to meet the union’s request to give it more power over regular maintenance work on terminals.
Rob Ashton, the president of the ILWU Canada, told CBC News that the union wouldn’t say anything until it saw the mediator’s report. Tuesday night, a spokesperson for the BCMEA also declined to say anything.
Monday night was the first time in more than a week that the two sides met in person. A government source who wasn’t allowed to talk on the record said this.
Senator Hassan Yussuf joined them. He is a former president of the Canadian Labour Congress and helped end one of the largest public sector strikes in April and May, when Canadian federal workers went on strike.
“The size of this problem shows how important it is for our country that the BCMEA and the ILWU work together. We can’t let this work stoppage go on or the relationship between these two sides could get worse, O’Regan said.
Effects being felt around the worl
According to a report from the Canadian Press, maritime employers say that the strike in B.C. is having an effect around the world because U.S. port workers are refusing to handle containers that have been rerouted from Vancouver to Seattle.
Willie Adams, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union International, told CNBC last week that union members on the U.S. West Coast won’t unload cargo going to Canada in support of the striking workers in B.C.
Adams told a rally in Vancouver on Sunday that people who thought they could unload cargo going to Canada at Tacoma, Seattle, Oakland, or Los Angeles should know that “ain’t happening.”
The strike has stopped work at two of Canada’s three busiest ports, the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert. These ports are important for exporting the country’s natural resources and goods and bringing in raw materials.
The biggest fertilizer maker in the world is cutting production
As a sign of these problems, Nutrien Ltd, which makes more fertilizer than anyone else in the world, cut production on Tuesday, citing the effects of the strike, which has now cost an estimated $5.5 billion Canadian dollars.
Nutrien said that the work stoppage at the Port of Vancouver was to blame for a drop in exports from its Cory potash mine in Saskatchewan, and it warned that production would be hurt even more if the walkout lasted longer.
The strike also had real effects in British Columbia. On Thursday, Canfor Pulp said that the walkout would cause them to cut back on production at the Northwood Pulp Mill in Prince George.
Michelle Ward, a spokesperson for Canfor, says a skeleton crew will be in place when the cutback happens, which will affect 475 workers.
She said, “We’ll start shutting down the mill Wednesday night, and it will be completely shut down Thursday.” “When we can start up the mill again, the workers will be brought back to help.”
Because of the strike, Canfor CEO Kevin Edgson said that the company couldn’t send 70% of its goods to Asia.
Economists have warned that it could cause more problems in the supply chain and raise prices at a time when the central bank is trying to slow the economy down. Most people think that the Bank of Canada will raise its key interest rate by 25 basis points, to 5%, on Wednesday.
Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters says that every day of the strike has cost about $500 million Cdn in lost trade. This means that the strike has cost about $5.5 billion Cdn so far.