Update: 19.06.2024

British Columbia's longshore foremen rejected the final offer presented by the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) on Saturday.

According to a statement by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), Local 514, 99% of its foremen voted in favour of a strike.

The union did not announce a date for an industrial action but highlighted that it is in a legal strike position.

In the meantime, the Canada Industrial Relations Board has scheduled hearings on 2, 3, and 5 July to review each party's complaints.

Original article: 14.05.2024

Canada's International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), Local 514, has delayed delivering a 72-hour strike notice to allow federal mediation with employers.

Earlier this week, talks broke down between the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and the union, representing over 730 ship and dock foremen.

The employees' current contract expired in March 2023, and negotiations to extend the contract failed.

A 21-day cooling-off period ended on 10 May, after which workers were granted the right to strike after providing a 72-hour notice period.

According to the statement published by the ILWU, three key issues remain with employer DP World Canada: the semi-automation of container terminals, centralised dispatching, and the use of management dispatchers instead of union members.

Should the strikes go ahead, operations handled by ship and dock foremen at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert would come to a standstill.

While longshoremen are not part of Local 514, the walkouts might affect container operations due to their supervisory roles.

The news from Canada's West Coast coincides with a cooling-off period between the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) union and railroads Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC).

Members of the TCRC had voted overwhelmingly in support of a strike that could start as early as 22 May.