Unionized container truckers are manning the picket lines at Port Metro Vancouver after members voted Saturday to reject a tentative deal.
Unifor-Vancouver Container Truckers' Association spokesman Ian Boyko said union members began striking at 7 a.m. Monday.
This weekend, Unifor-VCTA president Paul Johal said a deal brokered by veteran labour mediator Vince Ready was “too little, too late.”
About 300 Unifor members voted unanimously in favour of a strike on March 1 over concerns of long lineups and waiting times at the port.
However, the union suspended plans for a strike as a sign of good faith after meeting with Ready on Thursday, when he hammered out a tentative agreement between the truck drivers and the port.
Those plans dissolved Saturday after members voted against the agreement.
“We’ve warned the government for years how bad the conditions are,” Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s B.C. Area Director, said Saturday.
He said although the union welcomes the involvement of Ready, the feedback from members suggests they need to see something more immediate to improve their economic position.
Federal Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt appointed Ready to conduct an independent review of the issues regarding pay and waiting times, which have contributed to the disruption of trucking operations. Ready was to report back to government by May 30.
But McGarrigle said that’s too long to wait and the union wants Ready to be brought in to mediate with all parties at the table.
“We think the federal government needs to empower Mr. Ready with the ability to bring all parties to the table including the employer groups and talk about what we can do to get those immediate improvements while we wait for the comprehensive review.”
Robin Silvester, president and CEO of Port Metro Vancouver, said in a statement Sunday night that the purpose of Ready’s appointment "was to conduct a review of an industry that is clearly not functioning well for all stakeholders.
"We agree that truckers should be paid a fair wage, but bargaining relating to employment and contract relationships can only be done with the employer or the parties to the contract. Port Metro Vancouver is not the employer and is not party to the contract relationships."
McGarrigle likened the container truck situation to the wild west, saying there is no overarching association that speaks for all the employers.
"There’s like 180 different employers, there’s different unions, non-unions, fake unions and so it’s crazy and there’s no stability."
More than 1,000 of their non-unionized counterparts parked their trucks on Feb. 26 and stopped working at the port to protest lengthy waiting times to load or drop off containers at Metro Vancouver’s four terminals, and the undercutting of trucking rates. Unifor then announced it would go on strike unless a mediator was appointed.
The strike appeared to have been averted Thursday after truck drivers left a meeting with Ready with recommendations for a deal, which at the time McGarrigle characterized as "one small step in the road" toward resolving all of the issues. No details of the tentative deal were disclosed to the public.
