Ports open, no trade disruptions during Monday’s strike: union

METRO VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The union representing 3,000 workers at ports in the Vancouver area say there won’t be any trade disruptions at the ports during the “limited job action” on Monday.

Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have decided they will only refrain from performing any overtime -at GTC Delaport in Delta and GCT Vanterm in Vancouver, instead of staging a full-on walk-off.

There won’t be picket lines and the negotiations for a new collective agreement are still in the works.

RELATED: Port workers plan to strike at Metro Vancouver container terminals

Union president Robert Ashton says this fight is for future jobs in an industry that is quickly automating.

“If you look at what’s happening down in San Pedro right now in California, they’re automating their container terminals,” he tells NEWS 1130. “If they’re successful in automating them all, than San Pedro has an ability to turn into the West Coast Detroit.”

In a press release, Ashton responded to comments made to media outlets about strike action by the B.C. Maritimes Employers Association.

“Contrary to comments made by employers to the media, all terminals will remain open for business and ILWU-Canada and its locals will not put up picket lines at this time. Our goal is to keep the ports open with minimal disruption to trade,” he says.

The union has been in negotiations for the past 18 months to renew the contract that expired March 31, 2018.

“We made the difficult decision to exercise our constitutional right to engage in job action because all other means have failed to achieve an agreement,” Ashton says. “We remain optimistic that a fair deal can be achieved through the constitutionally protected bargaining process.”

The dispute between ILWU Canada and employers involves around 6,000 union members.Members voted 98.4 per cent in favour of job action this month.

– With files from the Canadian Press