A strike by truck container drivers ended Wednesday (March 26) after high level negotiations worked out an agreement for non-union and unionized truckers to return to work.
Container shipping at the port’s four terminals had been cut by about 90 per cent after 250 unionized truckers went on strike March 10, joining 1,000 non-unionized truckers, members of the United Truckers Association, who walked off the job in February.
The agreement was reached among the members of the United Truckers Association and Unifor and the province, the federal government and Port Metro Vancouver, and came after a scheduled press conference by the striking truckers was put off to allow for negotiations.
The province of British Columbia had tabled back-to-work legislation earlier this week that would have affected the unionized workers, while the port warned all striking workers wouldn’t have their licences renewed. The scheduled press conference by striking truckers was to announce the strikers would not respect the legislation.
Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, whose union represents the unionized truckers thanked the Premier of British Columbia Christy Clark for breaking the impasse. “If we were waiting for the feds to find a solution, the port would still be closed tomorrow.”
The root causes of the dispute were low wages and long wait-times to pick up loads at the port.
The drivers were demanding standardized rates of pay across the trucking sector to prevent undercutting and a reduction in wait times at the port.
More information:
CBC News – Vancouver port truckers reach deal to end strike – here
Globe and Mail – Clark, Vancouver truckers reach labour agreement – here
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.