In solidarity with the strikes in Vancouver and Prince Rupert ports, the labour union of US West Coast dockworkers announced they would not handle containerships originally bound to the Canadian ports. Speaking to CNBC, ILWU U.S. West Coast chapter President Willie Adams said, “The ILWU will not be unloading Canadian bound cargo in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in ILWU Canada."

The labour action entered its tenth day today, and the two bargaining parties, ILWU Canada and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), after talks came to a standstill during the strikes’ first week.

One of the key issues that stalled the negotiations was related to key maintenance issues. The ILWU says third-party contractors employed by the BCMEA are reducing their control over maintenance work.

On 8 July, the BCMEA announced the two parties met with the support of federal mediators. “In a sincere effort to break the log jam and get Canada’s West Coast ports operational, the BCMEA tabled a revised proposal to resolve skilled trades shortages and address ILWU Canada’s demand to expand their jurisdiction over regular maintenance work on terminals,” said the association in a press release.

“Regrettably, ILWU Canada has rejected these ideas to date and instead continue to propose to aggressively expand their jurisdiction,” added the union.

The CBC reported several containerships are expected to be diverted to Seattle Port; these include MSC Sara Elena and the OOCL San Francisco. Forwarders are also considering diverting cargo to Tacoma, Los Angeles, Long Beach and the East Coast.

Seaexplorer shows that the number of anchored vessels outside Prince Rupert Port has increased since the beginning of the strikes. The 7-day average waiting time also increased to reach 3.7 days on 10 July.