Talks between the two sides involved in the B.C. port strike appear to have hit a roadblock.
The BC Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) issued a statement Monday afternoon saying the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) has “entrenched their positions.”
The BCMEA said it has gone as far as it can on the core issues at the bargaining table.
“ILWU Canada went on strike over demands that were and continue to be outside any reasonable framework for settlement,” the BCMEA said in the statement. “Given the foregoing mentioned, the BCMEA is of the view that a continuation of bargaining at this time is not going to produce a collective agreement.
“ILWU Canada needs to decide if they are going to continue this strike with no hope of settlement, or significantly modify their position so a fair and balanced deal can be reached.”
One of the issues, according to the BCMEA is that ILWU is attempting to “aggressively” expand and redefine regular maintenance work, which is beyond the agreement currently in place.
The BCMEA said changing this definition would result in “significant impacts” to terminal operations and while the ILWU supplies the labour force for the port, the BCMEA said it has consistently been unable to fulfill the trades work.
The company also said the ILWU’s proposals for compensation are unreasonable and “and well outside the established norm of union settlements in Canada.” They gave the example that in 2022, the median salary of an ILWU longshore worker in B.C. was $136,000 per year, plus benefits and pension.
It said over the past 13 years, longshore wages rose by 40 per cent, ahead of inflation at 30 per cent and increased by 10 per cent over the past three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Late Monday, the ILWU president Rob Ashton fired back, accusing the employer of bad faith bargaining, and urging it to get back to the table.
“We hope the Association is not hiding behind the threat of back to work legislation and binding arbitration to avoid engaging in bargaining with the Union,” Ashton said in a statement.
“It is unrealistic to think that a collective agreement that is imposed will result in long term labour stability in the industry.”
The union accused the BCMEA of not sending real decision makers to the bargaining table, and of changing its position on the maintenance issue after the two sides had come to a position “that was largely agreed upon” through work with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services.
The union denied it is trying to expand its scope of work beyond regular maintenance, instead accusing the employer of “rampant contracting out” in its maintenance work.
Regarding wages, it pointed to “record high profits” at the port and said “it is reasonable for the workers that helped to achieve those record profits in the first place to have a fair and equitable share of them.”
“We hope the BCMEA is not using its vast resources and connections to vilify the Union and scare the public with tales of economic disaster,” Ashton wrote.
“We hope the Association can rise to the occasion and engage in meaningful talks with the Union and get a deal done.”
Union president Rob Ashton told Global News Sunday that he is growing frustrated with the delays.
“When all Canadians were asked to stay home and stay safe — our people had to go to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week in unsafe conditions,” he said Sunday.
“Longshore workers stepped up in this historic time. Our employers gorged themselves on record profits. Now, they seem to have forgotten the sacrifices our people made. (Sunday) they refused to acknowledge those great efforts by our members.”