Vancouver dock talks on again after cooling off period ends

REPRESENTATIVES from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) in Vancouver have returned to negotiations after the end of a cooling off period ordered by government.


Greg Vurdela, vice president of marketing and information technology at the BCMEA, hailed the resumption of general longshore contract talks as a "step forwards".


Newark's Journal of Commerce reported the two sides have been engaged in a war of words, accusing each other of causing the breakdown in talks after failing to reach agreement on the terms of a new contract, which lapsed in March 2010.


In addition to the traditional collective bargaining issues, employers are seeking to revise the Canada Labour Code to prevent unions from going on strike in future and to enforce a mediation/arbitration process instead.


The report said dockers voted overwhelmingly to support strike action if the talks fail. Union president Tom Dufresne said claimed the employers misled the industry by saying a dock strike could occur this week.


Said Mr Dufresne: "It is the height of irresponsibility for the BCMEA to make these comments, which will only create uncertainty, a circumstance the BCMEA claims to be trying to avoid."


The BCMEA claims that uncertainty over the outcome of the talks has resulted in cargo diversions to US west coast ports. According to Mr Vurdela, some shipping lines calling at Canada's ports have already sent at least half their cargo to Seattle and Tacoma.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)