4/20/2006 Vancouver Truckers Fear Strike Could Cripple Port if Agreement Not Extended
(Canadian Press – April 18, 2006)
Container truckers fearing another strike at the port of Vancouver staged a protest Tuesday, calling on the Conservative government to extend a temporary agreement that got the truckers back to work after a four-week work stoppage last year.
An agreement brokered by federal mediator Vince Ready expires Thursday, after which container truckers say chaos could erupt.
Truckers say the hauling rates set up by Ready would plummet and that about 400 companies that aren't part of the Canadian Auto Workers' union would undercut unionized workers.
About 200 truckers staged a protest Tuesday by driving around a downtown hotel, slowing traffic. The protest took place minutes after the truckers' representatives met with Industry Minister David Emerson and provincial Transport Minister Kevin Falcon to address issues facing the industry.
The ministers were attending the forum recommended by a federal government task force to address concerns that shut down the Vancouver container port for four weeks last summer. But truckers say they're anxious as the clock ticks toward Thursday.
About 1,000 independent container drivers, who offload 40 per cent of the goods shipped through Vancouver, staged the wildcat strike last July to protest against wages and working conditions at the port.
Last summer's strike forced Canadian retailers to spend an extra $100 million ensuring goods imported from Asia reached store shelves during the strike, according to the Retail Council of Canada.
A federal government task force also suggested a licensing program for the drivers and hauling companies to regulate the number of truckers and vehicles using the port.
Stu Shields, a national spokesman for the Canadian Auto Workers' union, said “the system will fall apart” if there's another strike at the port.
“If they don't extend (Ready's temporary agreement) then it's a recipe for disaster for the container trucking industry in the Lower Mainland and you're looking at another explosion similar to what happened last summer,” Shields said.
Emerson did not address extending the agreement, but said the forum is fundamental to building Canada and British Columbia's competitiveness in the world market.
“I think we all know there is intense competition in terms of the ports and other gateways down the west coast of North America,” Emerson said.
“We've got a lot of work to do. In my opinion, we're not taking the market share that we need to take if we're going to be a successful gateway going forward.”
“It's going to require an awful lot of dirty, messy, detailed work that ensures that the logistical systems that make up the gateway work efficiently and we don't have bottlenecks and we don't have stoppages.”
Shields said the federal government needs to put into practice what it's preaching about the importance of Canada's competitiveness in the marketplace.
“Stephen Harper should be listening today because everyone keeps talking about the reliability of the port of Vancouver and the black eye and the bad reputation. Well, it's last summer that led to that black eye and that reputation.”
Shields said that while both Emerson and Falcon, his provincial counterpart, appeared interested in the union's concerns at the forum, the concern about another labour disruption by container truckers is not a veiled threat.
“We're just telling them the reality,” he said.
Falcon said various stakeholders, including those from the port authority and longshoremen, unanimously decided the forum should continue.
Source - Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters
(Canadian Press – April 18, 2006)
Container truckers fearing another strike at the port of Vancouver staged a protest Tuesday, calling on the Conservative government to extend a temporary agreement that got the truckers back to work after a four-week work stoppage last year.
An agreement brokered by federal mediator Vince Ready expires Thursday, after which container truckers say chaos could erupt.
Truckers say the hauling rates set up by Ready would plummet and that about 400 companies that aren't part of the Canadian Auto Workers' union would undercut unionized workers.
About 200 truckers staged a protest Tuesday by driving around a downtown hotel, slowing traffic. The protest took place minutes after the truckers' representatives met with Industry Minister David Emerson and provincial Transport Minister Kevin Falcon to address issues facing the industry.
The ministers were attending the forum recommended by a federal government task force to address concerns that shut down the Vancouver container port for four weeks last summer. But truckers say they're anxious as the clock ticks toward Thursday.
About 1,000 independent container drivers, who offload 40 per cent of the goods shipped through Vancouver, staged the wildcat strike last July to protest against wages and working conditions at the port.
Last summer's strike forced Canadian retailers to spend an extra $100 million ensuring goods imported from Asia reached store shelves during the strike, according to the Retail Council of Canada.
A federal government task force also suggested a licensing program for the drivers and hauling companies to regulate the number of truckers and vehicles using the port.
Stu Shields, a national spokesman for the Canadian Auto Workers' union, said “the system will fall apart” if there's another strike at the port.
“If they don't extend (Ready's temporary agreement) then it's a recipe for disaster for the container trucking industry in the Lower Mainland and you're looking at another explosion similar to what happened last summer,” Shields said.
Emerson did not address extending the agreement, but said the forum is fundamental to building Canada and British Columbia's competitiveness in the world market.
“I think we all know there is intense competition in terms of the ports and other gateways down the west coast of North America,” Emerson said.
“We've got a lot of work to do. In my opinion, we're not taking the market share that we need to take if we're going to be a successful gateway going forward.”
“It's going to require an awful lot of dirty, messy, detailed work that ensures that the logistical systems that make up the gateway work efficiently and we don't have bottlenecks and we don't have stoppages.”
Shields said the federal government needs to put into practice what it's preaching about the importance of Canada's competitiveness in the marketplace.
“Stephen Harper should be listening today because everyone keeps talking about the reliability of the port of Vancouver and the black eye and the bad reputation. Well, it's last summer that led to that black eye and that reputation.”
Shields said that while both Emerson and Falcon, his provincial counterpart, appeared interested in the union's concerns at the forum, the concern about another labour disruption by container truckers is not a veiled threat.
“We're just telling them the reality,” he said.
Falcon said various stakeholders, including those from the port authority and longshoremen, unanimously decided the forum should continue.
Source - Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters
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