Port of Vancouver | “This strike is illegal,” says Minister O’Regan

The pickets that have reappeared at the port of Vancouver violate the Canada Labor Code, ruled Wednesday morning the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) – enough to provide ammunition to the Trudeau government, whose patience is withering.

“This strike is illegal,” Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan wrote in a tweet capping the CIRB’s verdict. This is based on the fact that the union did not give 72 hours notice before carrying out its strike action.

The quasi-judicial tribunal orders the workers to cease their strike activities, and summons the International Union of Longshoremen and Warehousemen of Canada to revoke its declaration of authorization to strike, and to inform its members of the content of its decision.

The strike was issued on Wednesday after the employer of the Port of Vancouver stevedores, the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association, filed a petition with the CIRB to have the strike declared illegal.

The reappearance of the picket lines has upset Minister O’Regan and his transport colleague, Omar Alghabra. “We have been patient. We respected the collective bargaining process. But we need our ports to operate, ”they decided in a joint press release on Tuesday evening.

“Workers and employers across Canada cannot cope with further disruptions of the magnitude we experienced last week. This is why we are studying different possible options,” they argued.

That of the filing of a special law of return to work is not ruled out by the government.

We already know the New Democratic Party (NDP), the Liberals’ dancing partner in the House of Commons, does not support the idea of ​​a special law, any more than the Bloc Québécois.

On Tuesday evening, NDP MP Taylor Bachrach urged the Trudeau government to “support the collective bargaining process rather than resorting to the kind of back-to-work legislation that Liberal and Conservative governments have imposed far too often.”

At the Bloc Québécois on Wednesday, spokesman Julien Coulombe-Bonnafous reported that the party was “in favor of a negotiated settlement”, mentioning that the Bloc Québécois has never voted in favor of a return bill. at work.

The Conservative Party had not yet clarified its position at the time of publishing these lines, Wednesday noon.

The Parliament will have to be recalled in the event of the presentation of a special law.

Astonishment

In the business world, the turn of events leaves a bitter taste. The first 13-day outage had already had “several million” repercussions at Olymel, which has accumulated about 3 million kilos of fresh produce – such as pork tenderloins and loins – in its freezers.

“In a week, we will approach 5 million kilos, drops the first vice-president of the meat processor Paul Beauchamp, in a telephone interview. If the strike had ended this morning, we would have had it until September (to sell off the stocks). These are appreciable sums sleeping on the docks and our warehouses. »

Asia is an important market for Olymel. Each week, approximately 1.5 million kilos of fresh produce leave its factories in Quebec and Red Deer (Alberta) for countries such as Japan and South Korea.

These cargoes are shipped out of the Port of Vancouver, basically.

Representatives of employers’ associations are now openly calling for a special law. According to Véronique Proulx, President and CEO of Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec (MEQ), Ottawa did everything to support the union and the employer during the first walkout.

“I don’t see what solution remains,” she said. We wanted a negotiated agreement, but there is a limit to letting companies be penalized. We did not expect what happened. »

MEQ, which represents some 1,100 manufacturing companies in the province, estimates that “five to six days” are necessary to “absorb the delays generated” by each day of the strike. At least 65 days will therefore be necessary to turn the page on the first 13 days of walkout.

After conducting a survey of its members, the association says that more than one in two respondents (55%) say they have already been paralyzed at the Port of Vancouver. In addition, 33% expect to be affected soon.