The International Longshore and Warehouse Union of Canada accepted the new deal after 75% of union members voted in favor during the ratification vote.
A tentative labor deal has been reached for workers at Canada’s Vancouver port and across harbors extending along the country’s Pacific coast, according to the worker’s union, International Longshore and Warehouse Union of Canada (ILWU), on Friday.
More than 7,000 port workers across 30 British Columbia ports had gone on strike over the past month, paralyzing multiple industries across Canada and, according to AFP, disrupting about CAD$10 billion in trade.
The ILWU announced that the agreement was supported by about 75% of the union members following “five weeks of labour instability at British Columbia’s ports.”
While there were no details divulged regarding the terms that have been released, the union did confirm that the agreement included wage increases, benefits and training, as well as provisions underscoring “certainty and stability” for workers.
In a joint statement, Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan and Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez described the ratification vote, as reported by AFP, to be “good news for the employer, the union, and the many workers and businesses across Canada that rely on our BC ports,” adding that “serious disruption to supply chains” caused multiple port shutdowns.
The ministers also announced that a review of the entire labor dispute is in order to allegedly mitigate trade and supply chain disruptions in the future, thus offering greater stability despite labor disputes.
It is worth noting that Canada’s West Coast ports operated about 16% of Canada’s total goods trade for the year 2022, worth about CAD$305 billion and contributing to about CAD$11.9 billion of the nation’s annual output.
Source: Almayadeen
