Dockworkers’ strike in Canada ruled illegal

International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Ship & Dock Foremen, Local 514, had planned the 72-hour walkout beginning this afternoon (8 July) at DP World (Canada).

The British Colombia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) responded saying if the strike went ahead it would call an industry wide lockout at ports on Canada’s west coast.

“In targeting DP World (Canada), ILWU Local 514 is unfairly isolating a single terminal operator to create uncertainty and chaos, while many industry-wide issues remain unresolved in our shared collective bargaining process,” said the BCMEA in a statement.

The CIRB has ruled the strike to be in contravention of the Canada Labour Code after considering an urgent application lodged by the BCMEA.

“The board finds that, in the circumstances of this case, the union failed to bargain in good faith when it conducted a strike vote amongst the employees of only one member employer of the BCMEA and issued a strike notice based on that strike vote,” said the CIRB in a statement.

Following this ruling the board has directed the ILWU to cancel the strike and the BCMEA has rescinded its lockout notice.

“The BCMEA is disappointed that these steps needed to be taken to ensure the stability of Canada’s West Coast ports, but is pleased with the outcome of the Board’s decision,” said the BCMEA.

The increasingly bitter dispute has seen a stalemate on three key issues – the use of semi-automation without negotiating how these changes will be implemented, centralised dispatching and the use of management dispatchers instead of union members at the Nanaimo terminal on Vancouver Island.