The health of manufacturing supply chains hangs in the balance as The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada decides on whether to recommend ratifying a second tentative agreement to end their strike at B.C.'s ports. PHOTO courtesy Vancouver Port Authority.
The drama and uncertainty continue at B.C. ports as we head into the weekend and manufacturers are left pondering when they will be able to get their supply chain back in order.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada now says a tentative agreement has been reached for the second time with the B.C. Maritime Employers Association, according to CBC News. The union is holding an “emergency contract caucus” to decide whether to send the tentative deal to its membership for ratification.
BREAKING NEWS: The union caucus has now approved the newest tentative deal and will send it to the union membership for ratification next week.
If this sounds like déjà vu, it’s because this already happened once this week.
The union caught the federal government by surprise at the start of the week when it asked its members to return to the picket lines after declining to ratify a four-year deal hammered out with the help of federal mediators last week. When the resumption of the strike was deemed illegal by the Canada Industrial Relations Board because the union had failed to provide 72-hour notice of its plan to return to the picket lines, the union issued a new strike notice for this Saturday.
That led to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convening an emergency meeting of his own to discuss the labour action deadlock threatening the nation’s supply chains. Trudeau met with the Incident Response Group, which is comprised of federal ministers selected to deliberate on issues with major implications for the country. Meanwhile, business groups such as the influential Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters are fed up with the impasse and want the government to resort to back-to-work legislation.
And then in yet another surprising move it rescinded its strike order to members and dock workers began returning to work last night.
Could this second tentative deal finally bring an end to the chaos at B.C.’s ports?
