B.C. truckers are meeting with government and Port Metro Vancouver representatives, along with labour mediator Vince Ready, this morning in an attempt to avert a strike.
About 300 members of Unifor-Vancouver Container Truckers Association (VCTA) had planned to put up picket lines today, joining more than 1,000 non-union truckers who started a work stoppage last week to protest long wait times and pay rates at the ports.
Members of both Unifor and the United Truckers Association, which represents the non-union truckers, are sitting down with the provincial and federal governments and the port authority at the Transport Canada office in downtown Vancouver.
The federal government this morning announced the appointment of Ready to conduct an independent review aimed at resolving the issues that have contributed to the work disruption.
“We look forward to receiving Mr. Ready's recommendations on enhancing supply chain reliability and labour stability in Port Metro Vancouver's trucking industry,” federal Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt said in a statement this morning.
“The continuing success of Port Metro Vancouver strengthens the Canadian economy. We will make every effort to enhance Port Metro Vancouver’s well-deserved reputation as an efficient and competitive gateway, so it can continue to contribute to the prosperity of all Canadians.”
And while the federal government made no mention of Ready being brought in as a mediator, Unifor indicated that it expected negotiations to begin.
“Things are moving,” said Unifor spokesperson Ian Boyko. “This is a very high level meeting.”
However, the union is still ready to walk off the job if no progress is made at the meeting.
“We’re fully prepared to stay involved in discussions until this dispute is resolved,” said Paul Johal, resident of Unifor-VCTA. “If we can’t make progress at the table today on key issues, we’ll have no other option but to put up picket lines.”
On Saturday, Unifor members voted unanimously in favour of taking strike action.
In the meantime, the work stoppage has affected container traffic at local ports and shipments destined for Lower Mainland ports are starting to be diverted to other terminals on the West Coast.
Peter Xotta, vice-president of planning and operations for Port Metro Vancouver, said earlier this week that major retailers have begun to execute their diversion plans to other ports. He did not know how much cargo would be diverted, but speculated it would likely be sent to ports in Seattle or Tacoma.
Port Metro Vancouver said Tuesday that local trucking moves about 1.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers per year and that based on the 2011 economic impact study figures, the value of those goods would be approximately $46 billion per year, or $885 million worth of cargo moved by truck weekly.
With files from the Vancouver Sun
