Canadian Longshore Workers Forced into Binding Arbitration by Government
Activists with the Teamsters Rail Conference and British Columbia Federation of Labour joined locked out members of ILWU Local 514 in Vancouver. The Canadian government announced it was imposing binding arbitration on the longshore workers, just as it did to rail workers in their contract dispute earlier this year. Photo: BC Federation of Labour
Port employers in British Columbia shut down ports on November 4 over a contract dispute with the 730 members of the Longshore Union’s (ILWU) Canada’s foremen’s local. Another 7,500 Canadian longshore workers represented by ILWU, who are working under a contract settled last year, were also not working as a result of the lockout, grinding port traffic to a halt. The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade estimated an impact of $800 million Canadian ($576 million U.S.) per day.
On November 12, Canada’s labor minister announced he was intervening and forcing the union and employers into binding arbitration at both the West Coast ports and the port of Montreal, where employers also locked out workers the day before. The move was welcomed by the employers’ association and heavily criticized by the unions, who see it as undermining their right to collectively bargain and strike. The ILWU said it would fight the order in court.
AUTOMATION CONCERNS
ILWU Canada Local 514 represents foremen on British Columbia’s docks, who have been without a contract since 2023. The major issues at hand are retirement benefits and automation.
Dubai Ports World, one of the largest employers in the BC Maritime Employers Association, tried to make unilateral changes to “manning agreements” in a partially automated port terminal where the employer wants to use remote-controlled cranes. Manning agreements cover how many workers are contractually required to do which work; they are one way to protect against the chipping away of union work as employers introduce more automation.
Longshore workers on the Eastern and Gulf coasts of the U.S. struck for three days in September, in part over automation protections. They returned to work with a promise of a $24-an-hour wage increase over six years, though other parts of the deal, including provisions around automation, are still to be hashed out.
Automation is a significant threat to longshore workers globally, as port employers around the world have sought to bring in technology that would reduce their reliance on human labor—and undermine the strength of unions.
Members of Local 514 voted down an offer from the BCMEA in June, with 99 percent voting against. In August, members voted 96 percent in favor of authorizing a strike.
When the union issued a partial strike notice—that members would refuse overtime, and block some technological changes—the port employers responded with a lockout at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert on November 4.
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ILWU Canada’s other longshore locals settled their contract last year after a thirteen-day strike. The previous contract between the union and the BCMEA, signed in 2018, was the result of another employer lockout, during which the Canadian government intervened. The government forced a vote on a deal, which the union voted down; the union then negotiated a new deal, which was ratified.
GOVERNMENT STEPS IN
Mediated talks between the ILWU and the employers’ association five days into the lockout ended after an hour. The union accuses the employers of having ghosted them at the last bargaining session before the lockout, simply not showing up. The BCMEA has threatened a worse deal if the union continues to reject its “final offer,” threatening to lower wage increases and retract a signing bonus.
Meanwhile, 2,000 miles to the east, port employers in Montreal locked out another 1,200 longshore workers after 99.7 percent of union members voted to reject a contract offer. Montreal is the second largest port in Canada by volume, after Vancouver.
Workers at two Montreal terminals had gone out on strike on October 31; employers locked out the remaining workers on November 11. Wages are a major issue: the employers offered a 19 percent increase over six years. The union had sought the same increase over four years.
Yesterday, the Canadian government announced it was ending both lockouts and forcing the parties into binding arbitration.
In August, the Canadian government issued a similar back-to-work order accompanied by forced arbitration to end the dispute between 9,000 rail Teamsters and Canada National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City. The employers there locked out the rail workers after the union refused to accept concessions including longer work hours and forced relocations; the lockout was aimed at pressuring the government to intervene. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference has appealed the government’s decision to impose binding arbitration.
“The government is sending a dangerous message: employers can bypass meaningful negotiations, lock out their workers, and wait for political intervention to secure a more favorable deal,” said the Canadian Labour Congress in a statement on the government’s intervention into the port disputes.
