Federal government faces difficult tightrope as business groups seek labour changes after port strike
CTV
Business groups continued to call on the federal government to take action in the wake of the recently resolved British Columbia port workers dispute on Saturday, arguing Ottawa must ensure such a disruption never happens again.
Business groups continued to call on the federal government to take action in the wake of the recently resolved British Columbia port workers dispute on Saturday, arguing Ottawa must ensure such a disruption never happens again.
But the federal government is walking a difficult tightrope between the demands of the business community and protecting workers' constitutional rights, labour experts said.
“On one hand, they obviously don't want to offend the very powerful business community. On the other hand, they don't want to alienate the labour groups they've been courting for years,” said Larry Savage, a professor in the labour studies department at Brock University.
The union representing about 7,400 B.C. port workers announced Friday that members had voted almost 75 per cent in favour of their latest contract offer, ending five weeks of turbulence that stopped the shipping of billions of dollars' worth of goods. This included a 13-day strike that began on Canada Day, affecting more than 30 B.C. port terminals and other related sites.
“Thank you to all of my sisters and brothers of ILWU international, port workers from around the world and numerous non-port workers unions who came in solidarity to support us in our fight,” Rickey Baryer, vice-president of the port workers union's Local 500, said in a social media post Saturday.
After the results of the ratification vote were announced, federal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan issued a statement saying he was directing federal officials to review the entire case to avoid a port disruption of this magnitude from happening in the future.
“This dispute caused serious disruption to our supply chains, risking our strong international reputation as a reliable trading partner. We do not want to be back here again,” said O'Regan, adding, “We will have more to say on this soon.”
