What you need to know about the B.C. port strike

As a strike by B.C. port workers continues, businesses large and small are raising concerns about how it will affect Canada's economy. 

Industry organizations say the job action by 7,400 waterfront employees will back up shipments, deplete inventories and boost prices on goods in shorter supply.

Here is a look at some key questions on the B.C. port workers strike and how it could affect your bottom line.

Have a question about the port strike? Email bcasks@cbc.ca

Dock workers walked off the job Saturday before negotiations over wages, contracting out and automation hit an impasse.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada said its jurisdiction over maintenance is being eroded by the use of contractors. The employers' refusal to agree to "one sentence'' of a maintenance document marks a key sticking point, it said.

The B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) said Tuesday the union is trying to "aggressively expand'' its control of maintenance duties far beyond an agreement that the association argued has been "legally well established for decades.''

The strike affects about 7,400 terminal cargo loaders and 49 of the province's waterfront employers at more than 30 B.C. ports including Canada's busiest, Vancouver.

According to the BCMEA website, member terminals handled 16 per cent of Canada's total traded goods in 2020, contributing $2.7 billion in national GDP.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority says the Port of Vancouver is home to 29 major terminals and handles the most diversified range of cargo in North America. It's about the same size as the next five largest Canadian ports combined and acts as a gateway to more than 170 trading economies around the world.

The B.C. government says Prince Rupert on the province's northwest coast is home to Canada's third-largest seaport, handling more than 30 million tonnes of cargo annually.

Fraser Johnson, professor of operations management at Western University's Ivey Business School, describes the Port of Vancouver as a "gateway to the East."

"The big products would be household and consumer products, things like electronics, fashion, appliances, construction materials, cars coming in from Japan and Korea, car parts to be able to service cars at dealerships, equipment and machinery for businesses," Johnson said.

Commodities that go through the Port of Vancouver to Asian markets include potash, canola, wood pulp and sulfur, Jeff Nankivell, president and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, told CBC's The Early Edition on Wednesday.