(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government directed an independent labor board to end lockouts at Canada’s largest ports, as it did with railways in August, to stop an economic disruption in the country.
Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon announced that he has invoked his authority under the Canada Labor Code and forced the matter to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, requesting it to order the parties to go back to work, resume operations and enter into an arbitration process to resolve the dispute.
The use of this measure is highly unusual, and could further damage the Liberal government’s relations with labor groups.
Dock foremen at British Columbia ports have been locked out for more than a week. Montreal port employers did the same on Sunday after their 1,200 unionized employees rejected a contract offer that included pay increases of about 20% over six years. That would have provided average annual compensation of more than C$200,000 ($143,330) by the end of the contract.
“These work stoppages are impacting our supply chain, hundreds of thousands of Canadian jobs, our economy and our reputation,” MacKinnon said at a news conference Tuesday. He justified his decision by saying the negotiations had reached a “total impasse” and there was “no perspective, no possibility realistically” of agreements being reached after more than a year of negotiations.
“Canadians have limited tolerance right now for economic self-harm,” he said. More than C$1.2 billion in goods handled every day in those ports have been disrupted, snarling supply chains.
The Maritime Employers Association, the group representing companies operating the Montreal port terminals, said in a news release that it is waiting for next steps from the industrial relations board, and that it will do what’s necessary to quickly restart activities. The BC Marine Employers Association also said it would follow direction from the board.
The representative for the Montreal Longshoremen’s Union, Patrick Gloutney, called Tuesday a “dark day for workers’ rights.” “We must collectively wake up and denounce this step back for the rights of the middle class,” he said in a statement.
The union representing the railway workers, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, has challenged in court the government’s ordering of the labor board to stop the railway disputes, arguing it set a dangerous precedent by violating workers’ constitutional rights.
A spokesman for the union representing BC dockworkers it would challenge the minister’s direction and forced arbitration in court, based on “interference with the constitutional right to free collective bargaining and the right to strike.”
“Minister MacKinnon and the Liberal government have sided with big business against workers and this will not be forgotten or forgiven,” Frank Morena, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Ship and Dock Foremen Local 514, said in a statement.
That sentiment was echoed by Jagmeet Singh, leader of the left-wing New Democratic Party, which in September pulled out of a deal that had helped keep Trudeau’s Liberal Party in power. Trudeau “caved to corporate greed,” Singh said in a post on X.
“We maintain that this decision is made under powers that are granted to me by the Parliament of Canada, and we will defend those actions vigorously in court,” Labor Minister MacKinnon said.
Greater Vancouver Board of Trade President Bridgitte Anderson said her members were “very relieved” by the intervention. She argued Canada must focus on improving the environment for business ahead of Donald Trump’s presidency, which could bring sweeping trade barriers on the US’s northern neighbor.
“We need really to focus on getting our economic house in order, probably more now than ever if you look at the outcome of the US election,” she said by phone.
--With assistance from Brian Platt.
(Updates with comments from ILWU Local 514, Jagmeet Singh, business group)
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