British Columbia ports may be closed due to labor contract dispute

Port employers in western Canada will block unionized dock crews on Monday, a move that could disrupt trade through a key gateway to the country’s West Coast.

The decision by the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), which represents ocean carriers and terminal operators at the Port of Vancouver, the country’s busiest container hub, and the Port of Prince Rupert, stems from a contract dispute between 700 foremen represented by International Longshore and the Warehouse Union ( ILWU), local 514.

Employers called the lockout, scheduled for 9 a.m. local time, a defensive move after the union earlier called for an industry-wide strike from 8 a.m. Monday.

The BCMEA called the strike notice “unfounded” in an update posted on its website and said the lockout would ensure a “safe and orderly wind down of operations.”

About $800 million in trade passes through Canada’s west coast ports every day.

Employers said their final proposal calls for a 19.2% pay increase over four years, which would raise the average salary for foremen to C$246,323 to C$293,617.

The BCMEA warned that if the union rejected the offer, subsequent contract terms would not be as generous.

Union President Frank Morena responded in a Sunday press release.

“Let me be very clear with BCMEA: our union will not sign any contract that includes concessions that remove existing portions of our collective bargaining agreement that our members have fought long and hard for for many years.”

Labor Secretary Stephen McKinnon said on X that he was in touch with both sides and that federal mediators were on site and ready to help. “The parties are responsible for reaching an agreement. Businesses, workers and farmers count on them,” he wrote.

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