Dockworkers at Westshore Terminals have gone on strike and set up a picket line, the first time ever at the huge coal-exporting facility on Roberts Bank in Delta.
A notice issued by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 502, on Friday invited all members, family and friends to the picket line starting Saturday morning.
The union said on its website that it has never had to strike at Westshore since the terminal opened in 1970.
But the union said it’s now had to withdraw its labour in order to get a “fair contract,’ saying that the company has changed its management style, “directly affecting our members’ quality of life.”
The coal-exporting terminal is the largest on the west coast of North America and ships coal from B.C., Alberta and from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming, said Local 502.
The union said it’s fighting for better working conditions and quality of life and that its membership has faced the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and skyrocketing inflation.
According to Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. vice-president Glenn Dudar on Friday, the work stoppage was expected to result, “in a complete suspension of operations at the terminal.”
Dudar said on the company’s website that talks have been ongoing since last October for a new collective agreement and that the parties remain in contact, despite the strike notice.
The collective agreement, and two others involving other ILWU locals, expired last January, said Dudar. Talks with Local 502 are the first underway.
A mediator has been involved since March and continues helping with negotiations, Dudar said.
Westshore Terminals says it’s “Canada’s busiest coal export terminal, handling more than 33 million tonnes of coal annually and providing billions in dollars of export revenue for Canada and B.C.”
Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. owns Westshore Terminals Limited Partnership.
