Tentative Agreement: ILWU Canada longshore workers reached a tentative agreement with the British Columbia Maritime Employers’ Association after a brief lockout on May 30. The agreement will be now be sent to the ILWU Canada longshore locals for discussion and a ratification vote.
Eighteen months of difficult negotiations concluded on May 30 with a tentative agreement between ILWU Canada longshore workers and the British Columbia Maritime Employers’ Association (BCMEA).
The proposed contract covers almost 7,000 dockworkers employed at Vancouver, Prince Rupert and other ports.
The settlement followed an all-night negotiating session and early morning employer lockout that was imposed by the BCMEA. Employers closed the nation’s west coast ports for the day shift, but operations resumed that night. ILWU picket lines lasted between five minutes to three hours, depending on the location.
“Reaching this agreement required discipline and unity from the membership, and they delivered on both,” said ILWU Canada President Rob Ashton, who also thanked the Negotiating Committee for their hard work and determination.
Details of the agreement won’t be released until a ratification vote later this month, but Ashton said the package included what he described as, “fair language in the collective bargaining agreement around automation.” Ashton thanked the ILWU International and International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) for their expressions of solidarity, along with support from a range of Canadian unions.
As The Dispatcher was going to press, “stop-work” membership meetings were being organized atLongshore locals to discuss the tentative agreement and answer questions prior to the ratification vote that will be announced by the end of June.