B.C. port workers back down on new strike after starting — and stopping — surprise job action

All the while, the Liberal government in Ottawa was refusing to rule out using controversial back-to-work legislation to force striking workers back on the job.

But now the pressure seems to have subsided. In a terse, one-sentence statement posted on its website Wednesday evening, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union said it had removed the notice it had only just delivered to the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association, informing port workers’ employers that they’d be going on strike again Saturday morning.

“Effective immediately the strike notice dated July 22 for 9 a.m. has been removed,” said the statement attributed to union president Rob Ashton. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Star Wednesday night.

In a statement of its own, the employers’ association confirmed the notice had been removed but seemed caught off guard by the sudden change.

“The past 24 hours have demonstrated that this continues to be a fluid and unpredictable situation,” the statement said. “We will communicate as appropriate with key stakeholders as we receive clarification.”

Earlier in the day, the federal government said it was urgently working on a solution and hinted it would not tolerate further closures of west coast ports, after a 13-day strike that began July 1 flustered business groups and premiers from Victoria to Toronto.

Warning that another strike at busy west coast ports would disrupt billions of dollars in trade, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened his “incident response group” of cabinet ministers and bureaucrats on Wednesday to discuss how to resolve the situation.

A spokesperson for federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said late Wednesday night that the government now expects B.C. port workers to be back on the job Thursday, but that they are still preparing for “every eventuality.”

Just last week, O’Regan had declared victory after federal mediators hammered out a deal that both sides appeared to accept after workers had been on strike for almost two weeks.

But then, in a surprise twist that kicked off the last 24 hours of confusion on Tuesday night, the union said the strike was back on after its leadership rejected the deal because it would not protect workers’ jobs or address “cost of living issues.”

Yet within hours, the Canada Industrial Relations Board had ruled that workers should “immediately” end the renewed strike because they did not provide the required 72 hours’ notice before walking off the job again. O’Regan, on Twitter, said this means the latest strike was “illegal.”

Hours later, the group issued the required notice, stating it intended to resume its strike on Saturday morning.

The employers’ group, the BCMEA, denounced the move as “holding the Canadian economy hostage,” noting the deal mediated by the government would give workers an almost 20-per-cent wage increase over the next four years, among other things.

In Campbell River, B.C. on Wednesday morning, provincial Premier David Eby called the situation “profoundly disappointing.” As far as he knew, he said, the two sides were not even talking. He called on Ottawa to do “everything possible” to get them back at the negotiating table, but said back-to-work legislation was a bad idea the parties were “so close” to a resolution.

“Waiting for the federal government to pass legislation in a minority government in Ottawa is not going to be a fast solution,” he told reporters. “I can’t help but feel that whatever separates the parties is not worth the disruption. They’ve got to sort it out at the table as quickly as possible.”

Speaking in Windsor, Ont. on Wednesday, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh — whose pro-union party is propping up the Liberal minority government in a parliamentary alliance — said the port workers’ demands are reasonable and urged the federal government not to “interfere” with talks between the two sides.

“Don’t signal in any way that you’re going to bring in back-to-work legislation, because that’s going to undermine the workers,” Singh said. “All workers deserve salaries to help them afford their rents and put food on the table. That’s what we believe in and that’s what we’re supporting.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, accused the government of failing to resolve the costly and disruptive strike at the busy west coast port. At a press conference in Niagara Falls, Poilievre demanded the government release a plan to end the strike within 24 hours.

“Justin Trudeau must do his job and end this strike immediately because of the massive cost to workers, consumers and businesses and we’re calling on him to deliver a planned and this strike within the next 24 hours,” he said.

Asked about the strike at an event in Ottawa on Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would support the federal government using back-to-work legislation “100 per cent.”

“I always want a fair deal to the workers, a fair deal for the taxpayers, and hopefully they can put this to bed today,” Ford said.

There are other options to try and end the strike besides back-to-work legislation, which would require the government to recall Parliament from its summer recess.

Under the Canada Labour Code, for instance, the government could force the union membership to vote on the deal that their leadership rejected. The code says the minister has the power to designate the Canada Industrial Relations Board to oversee such a vote if he believes it is in the public interest to do so.

O’Regan’s office would not comment beyond saying they are considering all options in an urgent situation.

The vast majority of ports in the province ground to a halt for 13 days earlier this month after the union, which represents 7,400 workers at more than 30 terminals around the province, began a strike after negotiations hit an impasse.

A large chunk of Canada’s foreign trade goes through ports in B.C.

Sticking points in the labour dispute with the BCMEA were wages, automation and contracting out work. The association released a statement slamming the union leadership for rejecting the deal.

“The proposed four-year collective agreement settlement package, that ILWU internal leadership rejected, included considerable hikes in wages and benefits over and above the 10 per cent increase received over the past three years,” it read.

Last week, Ottawa asked federal mediators to draft a deal to end the strike and forwarded it to both sides to ratify. The tentative deal put an end to the labour action and the terminals were up and running again.

The intervention came after calls for Ottawa to put an end to the strike became louder from business and industry groups. The BCMEA chastised the union’s leadership for rejecting the deal.

“This fair and comprehensive package could not satisfy some of ILWU internal caucus leadership,” its statement reads, “and in rejecting this tentative agreement, ILWU leadership is choosing to further harm Canada’s economy, international reputation and most importantly, to Canadians, their livelihoods and all those that rely on a stable supply chain.”

But the union said the employers have made record profits in recent years and the deal does not address their cost of living concerns.

The minister told the Star last week he was “confident” both sides would successfully reach a deal after he pushed for a recommended settlement to end the dispute. At the time, he dodged questions about whether he would take the controversial step of introducing back-to-work legislation should either side choose not to ratify the terms of the deal.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, has asked the federal government to reconvene Parliament to deal with the labour dispute by passing back-to-work legislation.

Jeremy Nuttall is a Vancouver-based investigative reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @Nuttallreports

Raisa Patel is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @R_SPatel