B.C. port employers release details of final offer to foremen union ahead of lockout

The BC Maritime Employers Association has released the details of its final offer to the union representing more than 700 foremen ahead of a looming lockout on Monday.

The offer, which is dated Wednesday and addressed to International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 President Frank Morena, was released to reporters on Saturday.

It includes a 19.2 per cent increase over the four year agreement — which would be from April 2023 until March 31, 2027 — as well as a 16 per cent increase to the retirement benefit, a 10 per cent increase to employer contributions to the welfare plan and an average $21,000 lump sum for eligible employees that includes backpay since the contract expired.

The employers association says in the email to Morena that it has been bargaining with the union for nearly two years to renew their collective agreement that expired in March 2023, and the offer represents its "sincere commitment to concluding negotiations."

Morena was not immediately available to comment, but previously said workers are "extremely angry" over the employers' refusal to bargain major issues, such as staffing requirements as more automation is introduced at the ports, and the lockout is an "attempt to force the federal government to intervene in the dispute."

The union issued a 72-hour strike notice on Thursday for job action starting Monday at 8 a.m., which then prompted the employers association to issue a formal notice that it will "defensively" lock out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 starting the same time.

There have already been a number of recent disruptions at the Port of Vancouver, Canada's largest port, due to labour unrest.

The list includes a days-long picketing effort at several grain terminals in September, a work stoppage involving both major Canadian railways in August, and a port worker strike last year that lasted 13 days and froze billions in trade at the docks.

Expanded job action on Thursday at the Port of Montreal also shut down two container terminals, stopping 40 per cent of the container capacity at Canada's second largest port.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2024.