Vancouver port workers return to their jobs

VANCOUVER (AP) — Under threats of intervention from Ottawa, dockworkers and employers ended their labor standoff that closed the Port of Vancouver for eight days.

Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union returned to work at ports in Vancouver, New Westminster, and Prince Rupert yesterday. Labor Minister Claudette Bradshaw had threatened to table legislation in the House of Commons that would have imposed a settlement.

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) accepted a government mediator’s recommended settlement soon after ILWU leaders endorsed the proposal.

The new four-year contract includes 9% wage increases over the life of deal, pension gains, and a commitment to try to organize all workers at the docks, according to union officials. The two sides had been discussing settling on a three-year contract. The last collective agreement for the ports expired in 1998.

The union’s general membership will vote on the agreement today.

During the lockout, ships were diverted to U.S. ports or stockpiled by producers, with 5000 containers stuck at the Port of Vancouver. Bulk grain and most coal shipments continued uninterrupted because their transport is considered an essential service and covered under separate labor agreements.