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Union rejects contract, port workers back on picket line
July 19, 2023 By CBC News
Thousands of port workers across British Columbia are resuming strike activity after failing to ratify a tentative deal that was reached through federal mediation.
More than 7,400 workers from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) had walked off the job from July 1 until July 13 over issues like port automation, outside contracting and the increasing cost of living.
A tentative agreement had been reached between the ILWU and their employer, the B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), on July 13 after Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan asked for terms to end the strike, drawn up by a federal mediator. However, the BCMEA said in a statement Tuesday that strike activity will resume due to ILWU’s internal caucus rejecting the tentative agreement and not ratifying it.
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