Canada’s federal government in Ottawa has imposed binding arbitration to end work stoppages at ports in British Columbia and Montreal.
The government has directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the resumption of all operations immediately as contract negotiations are moved to binding arbitration.
This is the second time this year that Ottawa has imposed binding arbitration to end a work stoppage. Earlier in 2024, the government intervened when Canada’s two main railways shutdown due to a labour dispute.
The Maritime Employers Association had locked out 1,200 longshore workers at the Port of Montreal on Nov. 10 after workers voted to reject the latest contract offer.
The job action in Montreal came after port workers in British Columbia were locked out a week earlier amid a labour dispute, halting container traffic on Canada’s West Coast.
Business groups had been calling for government intervention to get the flow of goods moving, with the current disputes just the latest in a series of supply chain disruptions.
The current port disputes come less than a year and a half after workers at most B.C. port terminals went on strike for 13 days in July 2023.
The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade said that an estimated $6.1 billion of trade has been disrupted at B.C. ports alone, with impacts reverberating across the economy.
In announcing the binding arbitration, the government said that the work stoppages at the ports of British Columbia and Montreal were hurting Canada’s reputation as a reliable trade partner.
While business groups expressed relief at the resumption of work at the ports, labour groups warned that there are consequences to the government intervening in collective bargaining.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 1,200 dockworkers at Montreal‘s port, denounced the government’s decision, calling it a “dark day for workers’ rights.”
